US stocks end at records, lead global equities higher

NEW YORK, United States — All three major US equity indices rose to fresh records Wednesday on solid earnings and higher oil prices, concluding a sunny session for global equities.

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all ended at new peaks as investors shrugged off worries about Washington, where President Donald Trump’s agenda has languished amid opposition to his health care reform proposal.

Bourses in Europe were higher ahead of Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai also all rose.

Earnings growth among companies in the S&P 500 has thus far been “much better” than expected, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.

“That is helping the stock market and is the focus this week,” Hogan said.

Other elements that helped boost stocks included better-than-expected housing data and a bullish US oil inventory report that supported oil prices and boosted shares of petroleum-linked companies.

Maris Ogg, president of Tower Bridge Advisors, said sentiment has also been boosted by the improved outlook in Europe following the election of French president Emmanuel Macron as well as the recognition that Trump is a business-friendly president, even if his agenda looks uncertain.

“The market is recognizing we are in a pretty good environment and we are at the beginning of a cycle that could on for quite a while,” Ogg said.

Among US companies reporting results, Morgan Stanley surged 3.3 percent, but IBM and United Continental fell 4.2 percent and 5.3 percent after investors found fault with results.

Euro pulls back

The euro surged Tuesday to a near 15-month pinnacle at $1.1583, but pulled back to $1.1513 on the eve of the ECB.

ECB chief Mario Draghi has expressed greater confidence in the economy in recent weeks and analysts are looking for him on Thursday to continue to prepare the ground for an eventual shift away from easy-money policy later this year through a tapering of the bond purchases.

Still, Kathy Lien, managing director of BK Asset Management, said ECB officials have been unnerved by the rise of the euro of late and warned the central bank will want to avoid giving the currency a further boost.

“It is in their best interest to halt the one-way move, ease the euro off its highs by repeating that inflation is not on a self-sustainable path, and then gradually set expectations for taper from a lower base,” she said.

“That way… they could take the steam out of the rally.” CBB

source: business.inquirer.net

Equities pulled lower by oil, China concerns

NEW YORK - Global equities were lower on Monday, pressured by another downdraft in oil prices and worries over growth in China's economy, while the holiday season kept trading volumes muted.

Prices of both Brent and U.S. crude dropped more than 3 percent , reversing a brief rebound and dragging U.S. energy shares down 1.8 percent as the worst performing of the major S&P sectors.

Crude again moved within sight of an 11-year low. Brent settled at $36.62 and U.S. crude settled at $36.81 as last week's short-covering dried up and players worried that prices had more room to swoon.

"You have energy and tax-loss harvesting moving markets back and forth in these last few weeks," said Tim Courtney, Chief Investment Officer at Exencial Wealth Advisors, which oversees $1.4 billion in assets.

In contrast to oil, U.S. natural gas prices settled up 10 percent at $2.228 per million British thermal units as forecasts for colder temperatures led to bets that long-delayed winter weather was finally arriving.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.9 points, or 0.14 percent, to 17,528.27, the S&P 500 lost 4.45 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,056.54 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 7.51 points, or 0.15 percent, to 5,040.99.

A weak batch of industrial profits raised concerns about China's economy and sent Chinese stocks lower by almost 3 percent, their biggest drop in a month.

Profits at Chinese industrial companies in November fell 1.4 percent from a year earlier, the sixth consecutive month of decline and another sign that the world's chief engine of growth for the past decade is sputtering.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gave up early modest gains to fall 0.53, putting it on track for a 12-percent loss this year.

With trading light in the United States and Europe between Christmas and the upcoming New Year's holidays, as well as a holiday on Monday in the United Kingdom, markets could see exaggerated moves this week.

MSCI's all-country world index lost 0.22 percent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed down 0.54 percent.

In Europe, the drop in oil prices put pressure on energy stocks such as Repsol and Total.

Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes inched down to 2.2322 percent, up 3/32 in price.

The dollar edged lower against a basket of major currencies, off 0.03 percent at 97.951 as bullish bets on the currency this year on a U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike met year-end profit-taking.

But the drop in oil prices hurt currencies linked to the commodity, such as the Australian and Canadian dollars.

The Australian dollar fell 0.1 percent to $0.7248 while its Canadian counterpart fell 0.6 percent to $1.3902, heading back towards this month's 11-year lows.

Spot gold was down 0.7 percent at $1,068.19 an ounce and was on track for its sixth straight quarterly decline, its longest run of quarterly losses since the mid-1970s. —Reuters