Fed Chairman’s Statement Drives Markets
IFC Markets | Jul 18, 2018 10:26AM ET
The Dow Jones index closed higher for the 4th day in a row, and the Nasdaq 100 updated the historical high due to the steady growth of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) stocks.
Yesterday's increase in both the US stock market and the dollar exchange rate was contributed by the positive speech of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in the US Senate Banking Committee. In his opinion, the US economy will continue to grow steadily in case of maintaining low inflation and unemployment rate. Market participants believe that before the end of 2018, the US regulator will increase the rate twice and 3 more times in 2019. Note that the Fed rate is now 2% and is below the inflation level, which was 2.3% in annual terms in June. The next Fed meeting will take place on August 1. A good earnings report by the Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Corporation became a significant positive factor for the stock market. Its shares rose by 3.5%.
At the moment, the aggregate profit of the companies included in the S&P 500 index, which have already reported their earnings (approximately 40) for the 2nd quarter grew by nearly 21.2%. This is better than the forecasts for the beginning of the reporting period, assuming a 20% increase in profit. The report of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Bank was weak, but its shares showed an insignificant 0.2% decrease during yesterday's trades.
This morning, futures on US stock indices are in the red. Investors are waiting for the publication of earnings report of another large bank - Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), as well as American Express (NYSE:AXP) payment system, eBay online store and a number of other companies. In addition, data on the real estate market for June will come out today at 14:30 CET in the US. At 16:00 CET, another speech by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is expected and at 20:00 CET - the publication of the Fed's economic review Beige Book.
Investors expect a retention of high volumes of European goods exports to the United States after the statement of Fed Chairman that the US economy will continue its stable development.
An additional positive factor for European exporters is the emerging weakening of the euro against the US dollar under the influence of the Fed rate hike. On Tuesday, good earnings reports and news from a number of companies contributed to the increase in European stock indices: Thyssenkrupp (DE:TKAG) (+9%), Mediaset SpA ADR (OTC:MDIUY) (+ 3.5%), Schibsted ASA ADR (OTC:SBSNY) (+ 12.6%), Getinge Industrier AB (OTC:GNGBY) (+ 10%).
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This morning, the overall market increase continues in Europe, as stocks of a number of European high-tech companies have significantly increased in the US trading system NASDAQ. In particular, Ericsson (BS:ERICAs) and ASML Holding (AS:ASML) NV ADR (NASDAQ:ASML) stock prices jumped by 9% and 5%, respectively. In the morning, good quarterly indicators from Novartis AG ADR (NYSE:NVS) (+ 2.9%) were published. Banking indices fell amid weak earnings report from the large Danish bank Danske Bank A/S ADR (OTC:DNKEY) (-9.6%). Today, no significant economic statistics is expected in the Eurozone.
h3 Nikkei Continued Growth And Updated Monthly High/h3This was contributed by the continued weakening of the yen, which is trying to overcome a new psychological high of 113 yen per dollar. The weak yen increases the competitiveness of Japanese exporters and their shares have risen today: Toyota Motor Corporation ADR (NYSE:TM) and Mazda Motor Corp (T:7261) stocks increased by 1.4%, Subaru Corp. (T:7270) - by 1.2%, TDK Corp (T:6762) - by 1% and Advantest Corp. (T:6857) - by 1.5%. Early tomorrow morning, trade balance for June will be published in Japan. This may affect the dynamics of local financial markets.
h3 Brent Continues To Decline/h3
Last week, OPEC and non-OPEC producers increased oil production by 1 million barrels per day, which provoked a decrease in its prices. An additional negative factor was the publication of the weekly report by the American Petroleum Institute, which notes an unexpected increase in oil and fuel reserves in the US. Official data on reserves will be released today at 16:30 CET.
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