Inc. shares reached an all-time intraday high of $805.89 on the session, and finished up 1.9% at $804.70, an all-time closing high. Euro inched higher against the greenback on Friday as investors kept positions tight ahead of Monday’s USA presidential debate.
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Aside from the potential for Monday’s US presidential debate having a big impact on the election, “there’s really nothing on the horizon until earnings season, and the Fed has kind of cleared the way for accommodative policy and low interest rate environment which bodes well for stocks”, said Alan Lancz, president of investment advisory firm Alan B. Lancz & Associates in Toledo, Ohio. Kansas City Fed President Esther George dissented in the last interest rate decision.
As markets fell in South Korea, which is one of Asia’s most volatile, fund managers rushed in to buy the Korean won, its government bonds and stocks.
In the currency market, the dollar was softer on the Fed’s policy outlook, with the dollar’s index against a basket of six major currencies slipping to its lowest level in almost two weeks on Thursday.
The German Bunds yield also fell about 10 basis points to minus 0.093 percent from plus 0.005 percent on Wednesday.
GBP/USD is supported in the range of 1.2907 and now trading at 1.2970 levels. But sterling was knocked late on Thursday after British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he expected formal divorce proceedings between Britain and the European Union to begin early next year. It has made session high at 1.3180 and lows at 1.3116 levels. They show committee members still expect the inflation rate to end the year at 1.3 percent, well below their target of 2 percent. The Nasdaq composite climbed 44 points, or 0.8 percent, to 5,339.
Oil prices rallied to a two-week high on Thursday, helped by U.S. government data that showed a surprising crude inventory drop.
The dollar dipped to 0.9692 Swiss francs from 0.9759 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.3067 Canadian dollars from 1.3159 Canadian dollars.
AUD/USD is supported around 0.7440 levels and now trading at 0.7512 levels. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) rose 0.4%, while the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) ended 0.6% higher.
Gold was boosted Wednesday by the Federal Reserve’s decision to once again leave interest rates steady, yet the rally now could be curbed by a case for higher rates after division among Fed policymakers, said HSBC.
The dollar index was last up 0.1 percent at 95.531.
Yahoo Inc.’s stock closed up fractionally as the ailing internet pioneer confirmed a data breach that exposed at least 500 million user accounts.
With the jump in oil, shares of energy and drilling companies were among the S&P 500’s top gainers. Hopes of a deal to curb crude oil output at next week’s OPEC meeting were not enough to prop up oil prices. AT&T rose 54 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $41.11. Although Fischer is considered to be a close ally of Yellen and tends to be in agreement with her, he has recently sounded a little more hawkish, signaling in late August that a 2016 rate hike is still under consideration, saying the US economy is already close to meeting the central bank’s goals and that growth will gain steam. On the week, WTI gained 3 percent.
FED WATCH: The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged and signaled it is likely to raise it later this year.
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December gold futures settled 1% higher Thursday, gaining $13.30 to $1,344.70 an ounce.
