By IFCMarkets
US stocks were advancing on Thursday and closed near their intraday highs as oil bounced up, Apple stocks rose and positive economic data improved investors sentiment. US dollar index, a measure of a greenback’s value against a basket of six major currencies, closed lower at 95.31. S&P 500 index added 1.01% to 2,147.26 with information technologies sector being top performer as it gained more than 1.5%. Dow Jones industrial average advanced 0.99% to 18,212.48 with all its 30 constituents closing in the black. Nasdaq outperformed the markets having added 1.4% to 5,249.69 as Apple stocks surged 3.4% to $115.57, highest since December 2015. Apple stocks advanced 12% this week on strong flagman iPhone 7 sales. Markers are also cheered up by fading chances for Fed rate hike next week as they consider the Fed being on the sidelines. Initial jobless claims turned out to be 260 thousand in August, almost in line with expectations while Producer Price index for August came in unchanged. Retail sales slumped more than anticipated in August and industrial production fell 0.4% instead of expected -0.3%. The handful of data released on Thursday was the last before the Fed September meeting. Investors have been closely watching the economic data and listening to Fed members speeches for hints on interest rate timing but the hints were so mixed that markets seem to be confused not knowing what to expect next week. Still, the chances for September rate hike are just 12% down from 15% in previous day, according to FedWatch tool.
European stocks slid on Friday heading for their worst week in three months as Deutsche Bank stocks slumped 7.3% after it said the US Department of Justice was seeking $14bn from the German bank in settlement of investigation of mortgage-backed securities sales. The sum exceeds by far investors estimates and may severely hurt the financial statement of German Bank. Other banks were in the red as well: Royal Bank of Scotland, Credit Suisse and UBS fell 2.2 to 4.1% each. As a result, Europe’s banking sector lost 1.4%. Another decliner was the energy sector which was looking down as oil retreated on global oversupply worries on resumption of exports form Libya and Nigeria. STOXX EUROPE 600 index slipped 0.3% after falling 1.4% the day before. UK’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.5% to 6,695.14 with only healthcare sector being in the black. Top decliners were financials hurt by the news Deutsche Bank has to pay out $14bn to settle claims on MBS. Meanwhile, French CAC 40 index lost 1.15% and German DAX 30 fell 1.34%. EURUSD pair was last traded at $1.1227 slightly down from Thursday.
Asian stocks advanced on Friday on relieved concerns about BoJ rate cut and on strong Apple performance. Nikkei closed 0.7% higher at 16,519.29 on Friday having hit a three-week low on Thursday. The index lost 2.6% this week, as investors were cautious about the upcoming BoJ meeting on monetary policy next week where the bank may go further negative with interest rates. The Japanese index managed to rebound on Friday as chances for the BoJ rate cut faded. Mitsubishi stocks rose 2.7% while Resona Holdings added 3.4%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.4% on Friday but lost 2.3% this week. USDJPY was little changed at 102.06 yen.
Oil futures prices retreated on Friday as investors were concerned with possible further rise in Baker Hughes oil rigs count and as improving situation in Libya and Nigeria may worsen global supply glut. Brent crude futures lost 0.8% to $46.20 a barrel while WTI futures fell 0.8% to $43.55 a barrel. Baker Hughes data will come out today at 19:00 CEST in US.
Gold was steady on Friday with spot gold prices being $1,314.64 an ounce, down 1% this week.
Free Reports:
Market Analysis provided by IFCMarkets
Note:
This overview has an informative and tutorial character and is published for free. All the data, included in the overview, are received from public sources, recognized as more or less reliable. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the indicated information is full and precise. Overviews are not updated. The whole information in each overview, including opinion, indicators, charts and anything else, is provided only for familiarization purposes and is not financial advice or а recommendation. The whole text and its any part, as well as the charts cannot be considered as an offer to make a deal with any asset. IFC Markets and its employees under any circumstances are not liable for any action taken by someone else during or after reading the overview.