Financial shares lead US stocks higher
US stocks advanced on Wednesday as President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans announced a tax overhaul proposal. The dollar strength persisted: 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, gained 0.5% to 93.428. The S&P 500 jumped 0.4% settling at 2507.04 led by financial shares. The Dow Jones rose 0.3% to 22340.71 with gains in JP Morgan offsetting 1.9% drop in Nike. Nasdaq composite jumped 1.2% to 6453.26.
Bank shares lead European markets higher
European stocks extended gains on Wednesday led by bank shares. Both the euro and British Pound continued the slide against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.4%. Germany’s DAX 30 gained 0.4% to 12657.41 helped by 1.2% gain in Siemens shares on news Alstom and Siemens agreed to merge their rail operations. France’s CAC 40 added 0.3% and UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 7313.51. Indices opened 0.2% - 0.4% higher today.
Asian indices mixed
Asian stock indices are mixed today. Nikkei rose 0.5% to 20363.11 as yen extended losses against the dollar. Chinese stocks are down on profit taking ahead of weeklong National Day holiday in China: the Shanghai Composite Index is 0.2% lower and and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down 0.3%. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index added 0.1% despite helped by gains in bank stocks and continued slide in Australian dollar against the greenback.
Oil lower despite US inventory draw
Oil futures prices are extending losses today. Prices fell yesterday despite US government data showing a bigger than expected 1.8 million barrels draw in crude supplies. However data showed a surprise 1.1 million barrel rise in gasoline stocks. November Brent crude lost 0.9% to $57.90 a barrel on Wednesday on London’s ICE Futures exchange.