Investing.com | May 11, 2017 05:44AM ET
by Pinchas Cohen
What started with market sound and fury—FBI director James Comey's firing by U.S. President Donald Trump—fizzled into much ado about nothing but noise.
Yesterday, after the Dollar Index opened with a dramatic falling gap, erasing half of the previous session’s gains, it scaled right back up to its full measure, where it had been before the news broke.
At the same time, while S&P 500 futures slipped after the announcement, the S&P 500 achieved a higher close than the previous session, eyeing its last record close. The VIX remains near Monday's low, at 10.2, its lowest point in 24 years.
Asian markets advanced, some to new records, while European and US markets have slipped. South Korea's KOSPI reached a new record, getting over what some may have considered disappointment at the election of liberal Moon Jae-in as President. During the campaign he signaled he wants to improve relations with North Korea rather than work more closely with the US.
Japan's Nikkei 225 neared the 20,000 level. Even Chinese equities joined the party and erased earlier losses. Like Asian markets—but contrary to the direction of western markets—gold advanced. This was the first time in seven days the yellow metal saw an upmove. Oil continued to climb.
As of this morning, oil has been able to hold on to its biggest gains of the year, after US crude inventories declined by 5.25 million barrels, double what had been forecast. It was its biggest drop in stockpiles for the year and a fifth-weekly decline from record high inventory levels.
Today, oil futures added 0.5 percent to yesterday's whopping 3.2 percent gain, the most in five months. This furious bounce comes after the commodity plunged last week, dropping to its lowest levels since OPEC and NOPEC producers, including Russia, agreed to—and actually honored—unprecedented production cuts, back in November.
The only downside for oil bulls is rising US production, which climbed to its highest level since 2015. The US's Energy Information Administration estimates production will hit a new record in 2018. In an effort to blunt rising supply, and more significantly, keep prices from falling, OPEC and friends indicated they are prepared to keep the November deal in place into 2018.
The $4.6 trillion question – the current value of daily oil production – is whether non-US oil producers are willing and able to continue cutting, even as US companies profit at their expense.
h3 /h3 h3 Yesterday’s After-Market Earnings/h3Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA) Reported Q3 '17
Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ:WFM) Reported Q1 '17
Macy’s (NYSE:M) Q1 '17
Stocks
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.