Dollar weakening intact
US stocks ended solidly higher on Friday despite mixed data. The S&P 500 advanced 1.0% to fresh record 3120.46, booking 0.9% weekly gain. Dow Jones industrial rose 0.8% to 278004.89. The Nasdaq added 0.7% to 8540.83. The dollar weakening was intact as retail sales growth rebounded in October to 0.3% after a 0.3% decline in September, while the 0.8% decline in industrial output was the steepest in 17 months in October. The live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, fell 0.2% to 97.96 and is lower currently. Futures on US stock indices point to higher openings.
CAC 40 led European indexes gains
European stock indexes resumed advancing on Friday. EUR/USD and GBP/USD continued their climbs Friday with both pairs higher currently. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.4% with bank shares’ losses capping the gain. The DAX 30 gained 0.5% Friday to 13241.75. France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.7% and UK’s FTSE 100 added 0.1% to 7302.94.
Hang Seng leads Asian Indexes Advance
Asian stock indices are mostly rising today. Nikkei ended 0.5% higher at 233416.76 as yen continued its slide against the dollar. China’s markets are rising as China’s central bank cut its reverse repo rate to 2.5%: the Shanghai Composite Index is 0.6% higher and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is up 1.2%. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index however turned lower 0.4% as Australian dollar kept rising against the greenback though at slower pace.
Brent down
Brent futures prices are edging lower today. Prices rose on Friday as the oil-field services firm Baker Hughes reported the number of rigs drilling for crude dropped by 10 last week to 674: Brent for January settlement rose 1.6% to $630.30 a barrel Friday.