By IFCMarkets
SP 500 and Nasdaq close at record highs
US stocks edged higher on Monday. The dollar strengthened as euro retreated following the expected win by establishment candidate Macron in Sunday’s runoff for the French presidential election: the live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, rose 0.6% to 99.159. The Dow Jones average rose less than 0.1% to 21012.28. S&P 500 ended up less than a point at record high 2399.38 led by energy stocks. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.03% closing at record high 6102.66.
There were no major economic data to guide markets on Monday. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, a nonvoting Federal Reserve member, said she would be “comfortable” with reducing Fed’s balance sheet this year and warned the central bank could fall behind on interest-rate hikes if it delayed too long on normalizing rates. Separately, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, also a nonvoting Fed member, said the Fed’s benchmark federal-funds rate is close to where a famous mathematical rule recommends it should be. Today at 16:00 CET Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary results and March Wholesale Inventories will be published, the tentative outlook is negative for dollar. At 19:00 CET Fed’s Rosengren Speaks at New York University Conference on Risk Management. At 22:15 CET Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak in Dallas.
Investors book profits after Macron win
European stocks closed lower on Monday after Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential election on Sunday. Both the euro and British Pound slid against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 index edged lower 0.1% as investors booked gains following centrist Macron’s defeat of far-right euroskeptic Marine Le Pen in the French runoff vote. The DAX 30 fell 0.2% to close at 12694.55. France’s CAC 40 lost 0.9% and UK’s FTSE 100 outperformed adding less than 0.1% to 7300.86.
Indices retreated with shares in Paris falling from a nine-year high after Emmanuel Macron, a pro-market favorite, won the French presidential election on Sunday. With French presidential election uncertainty resolved investors will focus next on outcomes in the French parliamentary elections on June 11 and 18. In economic news, German manufacturing orders added to the list of recent positive data: orders increased by 1.0% on the month in March, more than expected. And today March Trade Balance came in better than expected in Germany while the Industrial Output declined less than expected.
Asian markets mixed as South Korea elects president
Asian stock indices are mixed today as investor are watching the South Korea presidential election amid escalating tensions over North Korea’s accelerating development of weapons. Liberal Moon Jae-in is widely expected to win the presidency. Nikkei ended 0.3% lower at 19843.00 today with yen extending losses against the dollar. Chinese stocks pared earlier losses amid liquidity concerns after Macau said it would introduce further restrictions to curb money laundering: the Shanghai Composite Index is up 0.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is 1.2% higher. Australia’s ASX All Ordinaries Index is 0.4% lower despite the Australian dollar’s extended losses against the greenback.
Oil prices recover on OPEC deal extension talk
Oil futures prices are gaining today after ending higher in previous session following reports Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said a deal to cut production could be extended into 2018. Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Khalid Al-Falih said on Monday he’s confident the deal to limit production will be extended into second half of the year, and possibly into next year as well. OPEC plans to make a decision on whether to extend the production-cut agreement at its next meeting in Vienna on May 25. June Brent crude added 0.5% to $46.43 a barrel on Monday on London’s ICE Futures exchange.
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