For the second straight session, gold rose on increased bets the central bank will leave interest rates unchanged. The Nasdaq composite picked up 12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,246.
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The U.S. 30-year bond yield declined three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 2.43 percent as of 2:05 p.m.in NY, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader data, after falling as low as 2.4 percent.
Shares of Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide rose 2.3 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively, after announcing that their merger had won Chinese approval, the last regulatory hurdle to completing the deal.
Volatility was especially acute in the currency markets with the Japanese yen JPY= weakening by as much as 1.2 percent against the dollar in choppy trade.
The dollar index rose 0.15 percent.DXY to 95.995, hovering just below the 96.108 mark touched on Friday that was the highest since September 1.
The Dow rose 51 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,170.
The yen plunged – good news for exporters – after the announcement.
Royal Bank of Canada advanced 0.6% to $81.21 and Bank of Nova Scotia added 0.8% to $70.55.
The policymakers are also likely to downgrade their estimates for how many rate rises the economy will need in the coming years given that output, productivity and inflation are growing slower than in past decades. However, the agricultural chemical company’s are higher by more than 6 percent. Exxon Mobil shares fell 1.5% to $82.54 after Dow Jones reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the company’s accounting practices and other issues. The other is that Japan may unload significant new firepower which convinces markets that, despite the Fed’s itchy trigger finger, the era of easy central banks is still in force.
Australia will also see August data for skilled vacancies today.
The financials group, which accounts for 35% of the index’s weight, gained as investors brace for the outcomes of U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy meetings on Wednesday. Currently, the FOMC is trending towards tightened policy while the Bank of Japan is focused on easing.
The major exporters are lower.
Sterling was down slightly on the day at $1.2982 GBP= after skidding to $1.2947 on Tuesday, its lowest since August 16. Fast Retailing is adding 0.2 percent, while SoftBank is down 0.3 percent.
Gains to European and USA stock indexes were capped on Tuesday by the decline in crude oil prices.
Among the other major gainers, Nichirei Corp.is gaining nearly 4 percent, while Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and Sumitomo Osaka Cement are rising more than 2 percent each. That was down from its March estimate that the rate would be at 3 percent after 2018. But it followed a surplus of 514 billion yen in July, and surprised analysts who had forecast a robust surplus for the month. Shares were higher in Taiwan but mixed in Southeast Asia. South Korea and Malaysia are edging higher.
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US stocks are edging higher Tuesday with health care and household goods companies leading the way. “But the change of approach does at least confirm that the policy review was indeed comprehensive”. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent. Bonds climbed with crude oil. PulteGroup gave up 56 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $19.31 and Beazer Homes fell 11 cents, or 1 percent, to $11.03.
