Opening Bell: Major Indices Near Benchmarks Ahead Of Holidays

 | Dec 21, 2016 07:03AM ET

by Eli Wright

Stocks mostly gained yesterday with some indices including the Dow and Germany's DAX nearing benchmark levels – this despite thinning volume ahead of the Christmas holidays. Activity on the S&P and Dow was 20% lower than the 30-day average, reflected by muted swings in volatility; the VIX is down 2.22% to 11.45.

In Asia overnight, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.09% from a six-week low, climbing to 3,136.77. The Hang Seng rose 0.5% to 21,838. The Nikkei, however, fell 0.26% from its 2016 closing high, to 19,444.49 as losses in the steel, fishery and precision Instruments sectors led shares lower

In Europe this morning, the FTSE is down% to 0.17% to 7,032.30; the DAX is flat at 11,453.50, and the Stoxx 50 is down 0.43%, at 3,265.50.

On Wall Street, despite yesterday morning's bearish coil, the Dow rallied to within 13 points of the 20K benchmark, before closing up 0.46%, at a record 19,974.62. The S&P 500 rose 0.36% to close at 2,270.76, one point removed from its all-time high; the NASDAQ gained 0.49% to 5,483.94; and the Russell 2000 finished 0.73% higher, at 1,385.28.

In pre-market trading, the S&P is flat, while the NASDAQ and Dow are up 0.04% and 0.08%, respectively. Look for buyers to push their advantage at the start of today’s session. As Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG said in a commentary describing Australia's S&P/ASX 200:

“It's a good day to be an equity bull. However, it's a slow grind higher as opposed to an explosion in demand and the moves we are seeing in many markets are fairly subdued.”

At this point, it will take just a 0.1% increase to boost the Dow to 20,000.

Bond yields dropped slightly across the board. The 2-year note is at 1.225%; 10-year yield is at 2.55%; and 30-year yield is at 3.133%.

h3 Forex/h3

The dollar is broadly weaker this morning. The euro, which touched a 14-year low yesterday, has recovered slightly, to $1.0405; the yen and Swiss franc have bounced as well. The cable and Canadian dollar, however, remain depressed.