“We still expect the Fed to resume raising rates in June, which will continue to bode well for the USD.”Higher equities and encouraging USA housing and industrial output data pushed the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield to a 9-day high of 1.8470 on Wednesday”. The Nasdaq Composite added 16.89 points, or 0.38 percent, to 4,504.43. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 31 points, or 1.6 percent, to 1,926.
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The renewed weakness in oil prices on Friday affected US stocks, with the S&P energy index .SPNY closing 0.35 percent as the worst performer of the 10 major S&P indexes. By the close, the Dow was in the red, leaving its daily winning streak at three.
OIL REBOUNDS: The price of oil recovered as investors again hoped for an worldwide deal that will cap or cut production. Iran endorsed the plan without commitment on Wednesday.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index increased 0.2% in January, following a 0.1% increase in December.
In metals, gold fell 0.5% to $1,232 a troy ounce, while copper futures edged down slightly to $4,591 a ton. There was even a little bit of USA economic news. The headline figure was unchanged from the previous month. Minutes of the Fed’s January policy meeting showed that policymakers anxious about tighter global financial conditions hitting the USA economy and considered changing their planned path of interest rate hikes in 2016. The Dow Jones Transportation Index, which tracks companies like FedEx, JetBlue and Union Pacific, is up double digits from its low point on January 20. International Business Machines rose 4.8 per cent after agreeing to purchase Truven Health Analytics for $US2.6 billion. Expedia and TripAdvisor also climbed recently after posting strong results. Consequently, growth counter-cyclical stocks have been the best way for investors to buck the drag that oil prices have had on stock prices.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.3 percent as of 8:49 a.m. Tokyo time, with energy producers down 3.1 percent to pare their advance in the week to 5.7 percent.
SET YOUR WATCHES: Watch and accessories maker Fossil Group posted profit and revenue that were far better than expected, and its annual profit guidance also pleased investors. It lost nearly two-thirds of its value as fitness trackers became more popular and the Apple Watch was launched.
Markets have been rattled the months-long slump in oil prices, which has hammered the share prices of energy companies and spilled over into worries about losses for banks.
Among tech stocks, Amazon rose 1.9 percent, Facebook 1.1 percent and Priceline 2.5 percent. And inflation at the wholesale level last month rose 0.1%. Dow and S&P futures were up 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. Applied Materials Inc. jumped 7 percent after its quarterly sales forecast exceeded the average analyst estimate.
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CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 113.86 yen from 114.14 yen.
