By IFCMarkets
US stock indices retreated on Monday after closing at record highs on Friday. The dollar strengthening continued as investors waited for President Trump to announce his pick for the Federal Reserve chair: 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 0.1% to 93.837.S&P 500 closed 0.4% lower settling at 2564.98 led by technology and industrial shares. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.2% to 23273.96. The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.6% to 6586.83.
Equities rally is supported by earnings beating expectations with over 20% of SP 500 companies having reported quarterly results so far. Nearly 200 companies will report earnings this week. President Trump said he was “very, very close” to making his pick to head the Federal Reserve when chairwoman Janet Yellen’s term ends in February. He had told he was thinking about naming Jerome Powell and John Taylor together. In economic news the Chicago Fed national activity index came in at 0.17 in September, up from a downwardly revised 0.37 in August.
European stocks ended higher on Monday amid Catalonia standoff against Spain’s central government. The eurocontinued the slide against the dollar while British Pound extended gains. The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended 0.2% higher. The DAX 30 added 0.1% to 13003.14. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.3%. UK’s FTSE 100 ended slightly higher at 7524.45.
Spanish stocks fell on rising political risks in Spain after Madrid announced plans to enact Article 155 of the federal constitution against Catalonia, suspend Catalonia autonomy and impose direct rule. Central government will take over until new regional elections can be held. Spain’s main opposition party, the Socialists, said they would support a move by the ruling Popular Party to hold new elections in Catalonia. Catalonia leaders called for civil disobedience in response.
Asian stock indices are mostly higher today. Nikkei closed 0.5% higher at 21805.17 as yen extended losses against the dollar after Prime Minister Abe’s win raised the prospect for continued loose monetary policy. Chinese stocks are mixed: Shanghai Composite Index is 0.2% higher while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is 0.6% lower. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index is up 0.1% supported by gains in miner stocks on higher commodity prices and accelerated slide in Australian dollar against the greenback.
Oil futures prices are inching lower today. Prices fell Monday after switching between small gains and losses as traders watched developments in northern Iraq where fighting continued between government forces and Kurdish separatists over the weekend. December Brent crude fell 0.7% settling at $57.37 a barrel on ICE Futures exchange on Monday.
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