Telecom shares lead US rally

December 12, 2017

By IFCMarkets

Dow, SP 500 end at new records

US stock indices continued the rally on Monday led by telecommunications and technology shares. The dollar ended marginally higher: 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, ended little changed at 93.918. S&P 500 rose 0.3% settling at fresh record 2659.99 led by telecom shares up 1.2%. The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.2% to new record 24386.03. The Nasdaqcomposite index gained 0.5% to 6875.08.

Treasury yields rose ahead of Federal Reserve meeting starting today that is likely to result in the third 0.25 percentage point interest rate increase of 2017. Markets shrugged off news of a terrorist attack in the New York City. Economic news was negative: the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed job vacancies in October fell to 5.99 million from 6.18 million.

Tech stocks drag European markets

European stock indices slipped on Monday as losses in technology sector outweighed gains in bank shares. Theeuro inched higher against the dollar while British Pound decline continued. The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended less than 0.1% lower. The DAX 30 lost 0.2% to 13123.65. France’s CAC 40 ended 0.2% lower while UK’s FTSE 100 finished 0.8% higher at 7453.48. Indices opened 0.1%-0.2% higher today.

Bank stocks advanced ahead of expected Federal Reserve rate hike. Basel III announcement also helped bank shares by highlighting banking rules which were less restrictive than initially thought and noted most lenders hold a sufficient amount of capital.

Asian markets retreat

Asian stock indices are mostly lower today. Nikkei fell 0.2% to 22889.00 as yen resumed strengthening against the dollar. Chinese stocks are down: the Shanghai Composite Index is 1.2% lower and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down 0.6%. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index is 0.3% higher despite extended Australian dollar gains against the US dollar.

NIKKEI

Oil climbs on UK pipeline shutdown

Oil futures prices are extending gains today after jumping Monday following shut down of UK’s Forties pipeline following the discovery of a crack in the pipeline. The pipeline carries 40% of Britain’s North Sea crude oil. February Brent crude settled 2% higher at $64.69 a barrel on Monday.

Market Analysis provided by IFCMarkets


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