Dow Jones just below the 20000
Dow Jones industrial average closed at a new record high on Tuesday just below the psychologically important 20000 level. The dollar strengthened: 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, closed 0.14% higher at 103.283. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5% to 19987.63, led by 1.7% advance in Goldman Sachs shares. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% settling at 2270.76 with financial and consumer-discretionary stocks leading the gains. Bank of America shares rose 1%. The Nasdaq index gained 0.5% to 5489.47.
Italian government announces bank rescue plan
European stocks closed higher on Tuesday helped by strong gains in bank shares on news Italy’s government is preparing a bailout program for its ailing sector. Both the euro and the British Pound weakened against the dollar with euro hitting nearly fourteen year low. The Stoxx Europe 600 ended 0.5% higher. Germany’s DAX 30 climbed 0.3% to 11464.74. France’s CAC 40 outperformed rising 0.6% and UK’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.4% closing at 7043.96.
Asian markets follow Wall Street’s lead
Asian stocks are mostly up today with investor confidence buoyed by continued Wall Street rally. Nikkei ended 0.3% lower today at 19444.49 as traders booked gains after the index hit more than one-year highs earlier with yen advancing against the dollar. Chinese stocks are advancing with investors cautious about the impact of heavy capital outflows and traditional year-end cash deficit. The Shanghai Composite Index is 1.1% higher and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is up 0.7%. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index rose 0.4% with Australian dollar little changed against the dollar.
Oil prices rise on expectations of US crude draw
Oil futures prices are edging higher today as traders are waiting for the Energy Information Administration report on US crude oil inventories. Prices ended higher yesterday on expectations US inventories fell last week. The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday a larger than expected drawdown of 4.2 million barrels in US crude oil supplies. February Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.8% to $55.35 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange yesterday. At 16:30 CET today Crude Oil Inventories will be released by the Energy Information Administration.
Gold outlook bearish
Gold prices are edging higher today after a decline on Tuesday as the ICE US dollar index continued to inch higher toward a fourteen year high following Federal Reserve’s decision to hike rates 0.25 percentage points last Wednesday. Despite the recent weakness gold is on track for first yearly gain since 2012, roughly 6%. However with the Federal Reserve indicating a faster than previously anticipated pace of further rate hikes in 2017, the outlook for gold is bearish. Among other precious metals, platinum is 0.14% lower at $919.10 an ounce after adding 0.55% the previous day. Silver is up 0.27% to $16.08 an ounce following 0.8% gain in the previous session.