Benzinga | Oct 18, 2013 09:04AM ET
The US government’s 11th hour deal on Thursday helped more than 80 percent of S&P 500 stocks rise in value on Thursday.
The index broke its intraday trading record and closed at an all time high. Technology was the only sector to falter with IBM’s weaker than expected revenue taking the company’s shares down 6.4 percent.
The dollar slipped to an eight month low early on Friday as most saw the US budget deal as a temporary fix that merely postponed another battle between Democrats and Republicans in Washington.
The American currency was also weighed down by speculation that the US Federal Reserve will stay well away from tapering its bond buying program in the coming months due to the shutdown’s effects on the nation’s economy as well as the possibility of round two of the budget showdown in early 2014.
Top News
In other news around the markets:
Asian markets were mostly higher on Friday. China’s Shanghai composite was up 0.24 percent and the Shenzhen composite gained 0.53 percent. The Hang Seng index was up 1.06 percent but the Japanese NIKKEI lost 0.17 percent.
European Markets
European markets were up across the board heading into the weekend; the UK’s FTSE was up 0.22 percent and the eurozone STOXX 600 gained 0.26 percent. The Spanish IBEX was up 0.44 percent and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.27 percent.
Commodities
Energy futures were quiet with Brent futures for November delivery up 0.06 percent and WTI futures were up 0.07 percent. Gold lost 0.26 percent and silver fell 0.10 percent. Industrial metals were mixed with copper up 0.64 percent and tin down 1.17 percent.
Currencies
Currency markets were quiet on Friday, the euro traded steadily at $1.36 and the yen to dollar ratio was flat at ¥97.90. The British pound gained 0.10 percent against the American currency and the Australian dollar was up 0.13 percent against the greenback.
Earnings
Notable earnings released on Thursday included:Google Inc. (HON ) is expected to report EPS of $1.24 on revenue of $9.92 billion, compared to last year’s EPS of $1.20 on revenue of $9.34 billion.Economics
Friday will be another quiet day for economic releases. Investors will be watching for Canadian CPI, the Mexican unemployment rate, and US leading indicators.
By Laura Brodbeck
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