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European shares buoyed by miners as Fed keeps rates unchanged

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 131.01 points to 18,261.45, while the broader S&P 500 index lost 12.49 points at 2,164.69.

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The Russian energy minister’s comments in support of coordinated action boosted oil further.

The pace of economic data picks up today.

Oil prices rose about 1.6 percent as the dollar fell and USA crude inventories recorded a surprise drop. He also said the jobless claims number may be constructive for stocks on the stock market.

Commodities were mostly higher, with the November crude oil contract gaining 98 cents at US$46.32 per barrel, December gold contracts increasing by US$13.30 at US$1,344.70 per ounce and the December contract for copper up four cents to $2.19 a pound.

Twitter shares surged 21 percent on reports that the microblogging company had initiated talks with several technology companies to explore selling itself. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.06%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.06%.

Fed-fund futures suggested a very modest pickup in expectations for a rate increase in December, after the USA central bank signaled it expects an increase by the end of the year, and three officials also dissented for the first time since 2014.

Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index slumped by 1.6 percent, while the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plummeted by 2.6 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Stocks have climbed for the past three days.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday.

Turning to USA markets, the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P were each up 0.6 percent, while the dollar softened 0.4 percent to $1.1228 against the euro.

Meanwhile, the major European markets gave back ground following recent strength.

The dollar index .DXY dropped 0.5 percent on Thursday, and was on track to mark the second straight day of losses after the central bank’s decision.

Julian Phillips, founder of and contributor to GoldForecaster.com, in a Friday research note said gold prices have been facing technical resistance at the $1,340 to $1,350-an-ounce range.

Existing home sales in August came in at 5.33 million, below the economic consensus of 5.45 million. If that’s the case, “I think the market can continue to grind higher”. With the highly anticipated Fed decision now past, investors are turning toward the upcoming corporate earnings season and US presidential election, with the first debate on Monday.

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Euro zone business activity as a whole has expanded at its weakest rate since the start of 2015 this month, but firms stopped cutting prices for the first time in a year.

Janet Yellen September 21