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Market Wrap: Stocks, Bonds, Commodities
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks closed over 1% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 526 points (+1.60%) to 33,376, the S&P 500 gained 56 points (+1.49%) to 3,878, and the Nasdaq 100 rebounded 163 points (+1.48%) to 11,235.
Regarding U.S. economic data, the Conference Board consumer confidence index unexpectedly rose to 108.3 in December (vs 100.1 expected). The number of existing home sales dropped to an annualized rate of 4.09 million units in November (vs 4.30 million units expected).
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield eased 1.3 basis points to 3.669%.
Consumer durables & apparel (+7.18%), semiconductors (+2.52%), and commercial & professional services (+2.06%) sectors led the market higher.
Nike (NKE) jumped 12.18% and Fedex (FDX) rose 3.43%, as both companies' quarterly earnings exceeded expectations.
From a technical point of view, 3M (MMM) and Verizon Communications (VZ) crossed above their 50-day moving average.
European stocks also closed higher. The DAX 40 rose 1.54%, the CAC 40 increased 2.01%, and the FTSE 100 was up 1.72%.
U.S. WTI crude futures climbed $2.20 (+2.88%) to $78.47 a barrel. The U.S. Energy Department reported a reduction of 5.89 million barrels in crude-oil stockpiles (vs -1.65 million barrels expected).
Gold price declined $3 to $1,814 an ounce.
Market Wrap: Forex
The U.S. dollar index held steady at 104.21.
USD/JPY gained 66 pips to 132.39.
EUR/USD dipped 14 pips to 1.0610. In Germany, the GfK consumer confidence index improved to -37.8 for January (vs -36.0 expected).
GBP/USD dropped 100 pips to 1.2083. U.K. data showed that public-sector net borrowing rose to a record of 21.2 billion pounds in November from 13.4 billion pounds in October.
AUD/USD added 34 pips to 0.6712.
USD/CHF added 8 pips to 0.9268, while USD/CAD dipped 5 pips to 1.3606.
Bitcoin traded slightly lower to $16,790.
Morning Trading
In Asian trading hours, USD/JPY retreated to 131.75 from 132.39 in the prior session.
Meanwhile, EUR/USD bounced to 1.0635 and GBP/USD rebounded to 1.2125.
Gold advanced $1,819.
Bitcoin edged up to $16,850.
Expected Today
U.K. final readings of third quarter gross domestic product is expected to be up 2.4% on year, while current account deficit is estimated at 18 billion pounds.
In the U.S., final readings of third quarter annualized gross domestic product is estimated to be up 2.9% on quarter, while weekly initial jobless claims are expected at 225,000. Also, November Chicago Fed national activity index is anticipated at -0.18 and leading index is expected to drop 0.5% on month. | | |
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