Market Wrap: Stocks, Bonds, Commodities
On Thursday, U.S. stocks advanced further, with the S&P 500 gaining 37 points (+0.55%) to 6,913, and the Nasdaq 100 up 191 points (+0.76%) to 25,518.
The Dow Jones added 306 points (+0.63%) to 49,384, not far away from its record close of 49,590.
Meta Platforms (META) jumped 5.66%, performing the best among tech giants. Jefferies reaffirmed a "buy" rating for the stock.
Also, Tesla (TSLA) rose 4.15%, and Microsoft (MSFT) was up 1.58%.
Micron (MU) advanced 2.18% to a record close of 397.58 dollars.
Alibaba Group (BABA) bounced 5.05% amid reports of the company planning a listing of its chip-making unit Pingtouge.
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) fell 10.04%, dragged by lower-than-expected quarterly results.
Intel (INTC) closed 0.13% higher, but slid 13% in after-market hours. Though the chip-maker posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, its current-guidance for the current quarter failed to impress the market.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield added 0.4 basis point to 4.251%.
European stock markets closed higher, with the DAX 40 rising 1.20%, the CAC 40 up 0.99%, and the FTSE 100 up 0.12%.
U.S. WTI crude futures retreated 1.26 dollars (-2.08%) to $59.36 dollars a barrel.
Gold showed no signs of fatigue, extending its record-breaking streak to a fourth session, and marking another all-time high at 4,941 dollars an ounce.
Market Wrap: Forex
The U.S. dollar weakened against other major currencies, with the dollar index slipping to 98.32.
U.S. data showed that the core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price inflation ticked up to 2.8% year on year in November from 2.7% in October.
The third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth was revised upward to 4.4% quarter on quarter, the fastest since the third quarter of 2023.
EUR/USD rose 72 pips to 1.1754.
USD/JPY gained 15 pips to 158.40. Later today, the Bank of Japan is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 0.75%.
GBP/USD advanced 75 pips to 1.3500.
AUD/USD climbed 80 pips to 0.6840. Australia's data showed that the number of employed people rose 65,200 in December, more than expected, and the jobless rate dropped to 4.1%.
USD/CHF slipped 65 pips to 0.7889, and USD/CAD was down 49 pips to 1.3784.
Bitcoin still lacked upward momentum, trading at levels around 89,400 dollars.
Source: Trading Central Economic Insight