USA crude (New York Mercantile Exchange: @CL.1) settled up 8 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $40.75 a barrel, but not before dipping below $40 a barrel for the first time since August. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 1.1 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.4 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 index climbed 0.3 percent.
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In Europe, shares fell retreating from solid gains in the previous session, with French industrial gas company Air Liquide slipping after announcing an expensive-looking acquisition. It has advanced 2.9 percent this week after minutes from the Fed’s last meeting reassured investors that higher interest rates won’t derail economic growth.
“The market has grown comfortable with the idea of a dovish hike”, Mark Dowding, a London-based money manager at BlueBay Asset Management, told Bloomberg. On the Nasdaq, 1,753 issues rose and 835 fell.
SWOOSH: Nike said it will raise its dividend, buy back $12 billion of its own shares and split its stock.
Earlier, stocks traded in tandem with oil prices, which gained about 1 percent before paring gains, a day after closing $1 lower.
Lowes Cos. added 1.2 percent after posting third-quarter profit that topped analysts estimates. Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.5 percent.
Airline, telecom, and software stocks have also moved to the upside, while notable weakness is visible among natural gas, biotechnology, and health care stocks.
Utilities and consumer-discretionary stocks rose, while energy stocks dropped.
“It keeps looking like oil prices aren’t going anywhere-either down or sideways”.
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) soared 5.6% after a strong earnings report. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.12%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 0.29%.
Mr Kohl said he expected the Fed to persuade investors that raising interest rates in December will be a sign that the USA economy is robust.
“From a market’s standpoint, it’s unnerving to see public events like football matches being cancelled because of the threat of terrorism”, said Lawler.
European bourses finished mixed to moderately higher after the terrorist attack and hostage-taking at a Mali hotel rekindled geopolitical pressures, offsetting earlier gains tied to dovish comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
Still, investors are uncertain what form further stimulus might take. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) edged 0.03 percent lower to 5,073.64.
Separate reports showed that the Conference Board’s index of U.S. leading economic indicators rose 0.6 percent in October, following 0.1 percent declines in each of the prior two months, while the Philadelphia Fed’s business outlook index rose to 1.9 in November, from minus 4.5 in October.
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In commodities, gold fell 0.4 per cent to $US1,076.40 a troy ounce.
