By IFCMarkets
Dollar weakening continued despite strong labor data
US stock market rally was intact on Thursday supported by strong retail sales and labor market data. The S&P 500 gained 0.5% to new record 3239.91. The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 0.4% to fresh record 28621.39. Nasdaq composite index rallied 0.8% to 9022.39 led by 4% gain in Amazon after the e-commerce giant said the holiday shopping season broke all records. The dollar weakening continued despite Labor Department report new applications for unemployment benefits fell second week in a row: live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, slipped 0.1% to 97.56 and is lower currently. Wall Street will reopen today with futures on US stock indices pointing to mixed openings.
European markets were closed on Thursday, reopen today
Hang Seng leads Asian Indexes gains
Asian stock indices are mixed today. Nikkei ended down 0.4% at 23837.72 with yen climb against dollar resuming. Chinese stocks are mixed: the Shanghai Composite Index is down 0.1% despite report China’s industrial profits grew at fastest in eight months, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is 1.2% higher. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index gained 0.4% as Australian dollar continues its climb against the greenback.
Brent futures prices are extending gains today. Prices ended at a more than three-month high yesterday: February Brent crude rose 1.1% to $67.92 a barrel on Thursday. Today at 16:30 CET the Energy Information Administration will release US Crude Oil Inventories after American Petroleum Institute Tuesday report that US crude supplies fell by 7.9 million barrels last week.
Gold strengthening continues while Dollar weakens
Gold prices are little changed today after third session of gains in a row on Thursday. Prices ended above $1500 yesterday as dollar weakening continued: February gold gained 0.6% to $1514.40 an ounce, the highest finish since the end of October.
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