4 months ago
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By Sinéad Carew
NEW YORK (Reuters) – MSCI’s global stock index rose on Thursday, recouping some losses from the previous session’s late-session sell-off, while oil prices fell and the dollar was lower on the eve of a key U.S. inflation reading.
Oil prices, which rallied earlier in the week due to concerns about shipping disruption in the Red Sea, fell after Angola announced it is leaving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
On Wednesday, Wall Street suffered its biggest drop since September, and analysts cited hedging activity associated with trading in short-dated options.
“Today’s market is trying to recover. This has been the hallmark of the latest phase in the market,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist, LPL Financial in Charlotte, NC.
“We’ve seen the fear of missing out has been powerful. We’ve institutional money managers who have to catch up if they’ve been behind competitors.”
Also, investors, keenly waiting for a Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index report due out on Friday, appeared to be betting on data that would confirm easing inflation.
If expectations are that “this report could suggest a faster decline in core and super core inflation perhaps you’d want to come in today rather than wait until tomorrow,” Krosby said.
But Wednesday’s sell-off was weighing on traders as they waited for Friday’s data.
“The markets could be pulling back a little bit and consolidating while they’re waiting for more news,” said Joe Mazzola, Director of Trading Services Education at Schwab who attributed Wednesday’s pull-back in part to the fact that the market had rallied so strongly.
“If we can kind of stay within this range where we’re at right now, then that bodes well for the end of the week, heading into next week. If we give up yesterday’s lows then I’d be really concerned,” Mazzola added.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 162.37 points, or 0.44%, to 37,244.37, the S&P 500 gained 27.29 points, or 0.58%, to 4,725.64 and the Nasdaq Composite added 121.00 points, or 0.82%, to 14,898.95.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.21% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.42%.
The U.S. dollar eased to a three-day low against a basket of currencies as the previous session’s lift for the U.S. currency faded and traders braced for U.S. inflation figures for clues to future Fed policy.
The dollar index fell 0.537%, with the euro up 0.53% to $1.0996.
The Japanese yen strengthened 0.92% to 142.27 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.2685, up 0.38%.
In U.S. Treasuries, benchmark 10-year notes were up 1.7 basis points to 3.894%, from 3.877% late on Wednesday. The 30-year bond was last up 2.8 basis points to yield 4.0328%, from 4.005%. The 2-year note was last was down 2.2 basis points to yield 4.3473%, from 4.369%.
Oil futures settled lower as Angola’s move raised questions about OPEC’s efforts to support prices by limiting global supplies.
U.S. crude settled down 0.44% at $73.89 per barrel and Brent finished at $79.39, down 0.39% on the day.
Gold prices gained after U.S. economic data fueled expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in March next year.
Spot gold added 0.7% to $2,043.89 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.20% to $2,039.10 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Saqiq Iqbal Ahmed in New York, Marc Jones in London; Editing by Jane Merriman, Mark Potter and David Gregorio)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.
