MARKET WRAP: STOCKS, BONDS, COMMODITIES
On Thursday, all the three major U.S. stock indexes closed at record levels again, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 242 points (+0.64%) to 38,049, the S&P 500 up 25 points (+0.53%) to 4,894, and the Nasdaq 100 up 17 points (+0.10%) to 17,516.
Energy (+2.23%), telecom services (+2.16%), and household & personal products (+2.09%) stock sectors were the top performers, while automobiles & components (-9.66%), health care equipment & services (-0.56%), and insurance (-0.33%) sectors lost the most.
Alphabet (GOOGL) advanced 2.13% to $151.87, a record close.
Microsoft (MSFT, +0.57%) and Nvidia (NVDA, +0.42%) also closed at record levels.
Tesla (TSLA) plunged 12.13% to $182.63, the lowest level since last May. The electric-vehicle maker posted lower-than-expected fourth-quarter results, and warned of lower vehicle volume growth in 2024.
Boeing (BA) fell 5.72% after U.S. aviation authorities did not allow the plane-maker to expand production of its 737 MAX jet.
Humana (HUM) dropped 11.69%, as the health-insurance provider's 2024 earnings forecast missed expectations
On the other hand, IBM (IBM) jumped 9.49% after giving an upbeat full-year revenue growth forecast and announced plans to cut jobs.
In after-market hours, Intel (INTC) sank 8% as the chip maker's first-quarter result guidance significantly fell short of market expectations.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield retreated 5.8 basis points to 4.120%.
Regarding U.S. economic data, the gross domestic product grew at an impressive annualized rate of 3.3% on quarter in the fourth quarter (vs +2.3% expected). Durable goods orders showed no growth in December (vs +0.1% expected).
The latest number of initial jobless claims increased to 214,000 (vs 192,000 expected). New home sales climbed 8.0% on month in December (as expected).
European stocks closed higher, with the DAX 40 adding 0.10%, the CAC 40 up 0.11%, and the FTSE 100 up 0.03%.
U.S. WTI crude-oil rose $2.09 (+2.78%) to $77.18 a barrel. Oil prices were boosted by faster-than-expected U.S. economic growth and persistent tensions in the Red Sea.
Gold price gained $7 to $2,019 an ounce.
MARKET WRAP: FOREX
The U.S. dollar was firm against other major currencies, as upbeat U.S. economy growth suggested the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates very soon. The dollar index climbed to 103.51.
EUR/USD fell 40 pips to 1.0843. As expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to keep its key interest rates unchanged at 4.00%. ECB President Christine Lagarde said it was premature to discuss rate cuts.
Germany's Ifo business climate index declined to 85.2 in January (vs 87.1 expected). France's business confidence index remained stable at 99 in January (as expected).
USD/JPY gained 18 pips to 147.68. This morning, Japan's data showed that Tokyo's core inflation rate slowed to 1.6% on year in January (vs 1.9% expected).
GBP/USD slipped 14 pips to 1.2709, while AUD/USD added 7 pips to 0.6583.
USD/CHF rose 45 pips to 0.8672.
USD/CAD dropped 53 pips to 1.3469. Canada's data showed that manufacturing sales dropped 0.6% on month in December (vs +0.4% expected).
Bitcoin continued to dance around the key level of $40,000.
Get 10% Discount, 90% Payout & 150% Bonus on 8% Drawdown Challenges
Use code
: SKILLEDJANUARY1
Get 20% Discount, 90% Payout, 125% Bonus on 10% Drawdown Challenges
Use code
: SKILLEDJANUARY2
https://bit.ly/3GTvqTz