US markets advance on upbeat housing data | IFCM
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US markets advance on upbeat housing data - 23.4.2015

US stocks upped on Wednesday as investor optimism was bolstered by the prospect of Visa’s expansion into China and an upbeat report on existing home sales. The S&P 500 closed 0.5% higher with technology stocks leading broad-based gains. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 5,035.17, just 13 points below the record high in March 2000 that preceded the dot-com bubble crash. Visa and MasterCard gained 4.07 % and 3.91% respectively as China said it would open up its market to foreign firms for clearing domestic bank card transactions. General Motors, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Dow Chemical Co will be reporting earnings today. Existing home sales in March increased 6.1% from February against a 3.1% expected rise. Today at 13:30 CET Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Claims will be released in US. The initial claims are expected to fall to 287 thousand from the previous week’s 294 thousand. At 14:45 CET preliminary Manufacturing PMI for April will be released by Markit. The tentative outlook is neutral for the dollar. At 15:00 CET New Home Sales for March will be released. The tentative outlook is negative.

European stocks edged lower on Wednesday as Greece concerns and weak earnings weighed on market sentiment. The Stoxx Europe 600 index declined 0.03%. Germany’s DAX 30 dropped 0.6%, while UK’s FTSE 100 index lost 0.5%. Investors are concerned about lack of progress in Greek debt negotiations. There are no signs Greece will reach a deal to unlock the bailout financing at Friday’s meeting of Eurogroup of euro-zone finance ministers. As the country is running out of cash the European Central Bank increased the amount of money Greek banks can borrow under the emergency liquidity assistance program to 75.5 billion euros. Athex Composite Index closed 2.1% higher. Today from 8:00 CET to 9:00 CET preliminary Manufacturing and Composite PMIs for April will be released by Markit for Germany and Eurozone. The tentative outlook is positive for euro.

Nikkei closed higher 0.3% as investors continued adding shares of securities brokerage firms and large capitalization companies to their portfolios. Nomura Holdings and Daiwa Securities Group rose 4.2 % and 2.9% respectively. Japanese stocks have risen 15.8 percent this year, supported by increased purchases by public pension funds and expectations of higher earnings due to increased consumer demand after major companies agreed to raise monthly wages this year at the fastest pace in 17 years. Japan’s April preliminary Manufacturing PMI fell to 49.7 from 50.3 in March, indicating the manufacturing activity contracted in April for the first time in 11 months as domestic orders and output fell.

Manufacturing activity in China contracted further as the preliminary Manufacturing PMI in April fell to a one-year low of 49.2 from 49.6 in March.

Brent crude June contracts rose 0.8% on Wednesday as geopolitical concerns lingered over fighting in Yemen. WTI futures settled lower after official data showed US crude oil inventories increased by 5.3 million barrels, rising for the 15th week in a row. At the same time US output fell by around 18,000 barrels, reinforcing expectations that lower rig counts are finally translating to output declines.

Gold prices marked their lowest settlement for the month as better than expected housing market data strengthened US equities and reduced the metal’s appeal as a safe haven asset.

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