IG’s Joshua Mahony said: “European stock markets are following their United States and Asian counterparts higher, as investors react to the FOMCs decision to leave rates unchanged once again”.
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European stocks rose on Thursday after the Federal Reserve stood pat on rates but indicated a hike would come later this year.
The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 146 new highs and 12 new lows.
All three major indexes are poised to end the week higher after the S&P 500 index notched its best two-day performance in more than two months on Thursday. The component is made up of mostly tax-efficient REITs, or real estate investment trusts, which are often attractive to investors seeking dividends or a high yield stock that acts like a bond.
Fed officials said the labor market has continued to strengthen and growth of economic activity has picked up from where it was in the first half of the year. When the Fed does eventually act, if it turns out that the move is “late”, the central bank can always catch up by lifting rates by larger amounts or more frequently in the future.
The 10-year yield on the AP Municipal Bond Index was 1.863 percent as of 5 p.m.
Oil prices were little changed on Friday, following two sessions of strong rises, on caution ahead of a gathering of OPEC ministers next week in Algeria to discuss possible production cooperation to rein in global oversupply. Brent crude, used to price worldwide oils, rose 82 cents to $47.65 a barrel.
Gold for immediate delivery slipped less than 0.1 percent to $1,336.48 an ounce at 1:55 p.m.in NY, after four straight gains.
Freeport-McMoRan, the mining giant, jumped 44 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $10.98.
Mining shares were the top-performing FTSE stocks, led by Glencore which finished up 5.5 per cent as the Fed’s decision pushed down the United States dollar, making commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies. Copper, platinum and palladium each rose roughly 2 percent.
BANK OF JAPAN: The Japanese central bank said it will hold its short-term policy rate at negative 0.1 percent and might cut it further.
Red Hat rose 6.7 percent to $82.27 after the Linux operating system distributor reported second-quarter revenue and profit that beat market expectations. The energy index surged 1.03 percent and was the top gainer among the 11 major S&P indexes.
About 6.3 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, below the 6.9 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Rosengren has previously warned about the rapid rise of commercial real estate prices in the United States, which he argues could deepen a downturn if the USA economy is hit by a negative shock.
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Gold edged down on Friday, after touching a two-week high in the previous session, on a stronger dollar, but was on track for its biggest weekly gain in almost two months. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1226 compared to yesterday’s $1.1208.
