Trump’s priorities weigh on market sentiment - 3.2.2017

US stocks stalled on Thursday

US stocks stopped rallying on Thursday following Trump’s latest comments on the policy he is to pursue. Since the presidential elections in November, markets have been surging on expectations of tax cuts, deregulation and fiscal stimulus to enhance economic growth but now the investors’ focus has shifted to the temporary immigration ban from 7 Muslim counties and revision of trade deals. US dollar rebounded from its record low since mid-November hit on Thursday. US dollar index, a measure of a greenback’s value against a basket of six major currencies, slid to 99.233. S&P 500 index rose 0.06% to 2,280.85. Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.03% to 19,884.91 while Nasdaq fell 0.11% to 5,636.20. Earnings of S&P 500 constituents are anticipated to have risen 7.5% in Q4 2016 which is the record high for 9 recent quarters. After the close, Amazon stocks slipped 3.7% as its revenue fell short of expectations. Facebook lost 1.8% to $130.84 having previously hit its record high of $135.49. Macy’s stocks surged 5.2% to $30.72. Speaking of economic data, US labour market continues tightening while productivity remains weak. Today at 14:300 CET the US payrolls data for January will be released, analysts expect that 175 000 new jobs were created last month, up from 156 000 job created in December. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.7% in January, close to its 9-year low. At 19:00 CET the Baker Hughes oil rigs count will be released.

European stocks on the rise on positive corporate earnings

European stocks edge higher today on Friday on positive corporate earnings data. STOXX EUROPE 600 added 0.4% in the morning with consumer staples and healthcare stocks being the top performers. The index has already lost 0.8% this week as market participants are cautious about the policy of Donald Trump. Today at 11:00 CET the Eurozone retail sales came out lower than expected.

Chinese stocks fall as Bank of China cuts short-term rates

Japanese stocks closed little changed on Friday ahead of the US monthly jobs report which will determine the Fed’s monetary policy. Nikkei index closed flat at 18,918.20 having lost 2.8% this week. The broader Topix added 0.3% to 1,514.99. USDJPY added 0.35 to 113.13 yen as Bank of Japan surprisingly offered to buy benchmark 10-year Japanese government bonds which pushed their yields lower. Chinese yuan fell in first trading day after the Lunar New Year holidays as People’s Bank of China surprisingly raised short-term interest rates. This means it pursue further the policy of monetary tightening amid improving economic conditions. The decision affected money markets and made further tightening more probable. The blue-chip CSI 300 index closed 0.7% lower at 3,365.12 points while Shanghai Composite index dipped 0.6% to 3,140.65. In Hong Kong, Hang Seng index lost 0.2% to 23,129.21 in the fourth day of losses in Hong Kong markets. Australian stocks closed lower on Friday as mining stocks showed the sharpest decline in two months after the decision of the Bank of China. The S&P/ASX index fell 0.4% to 5,621.6 on Friday having lost 1.6% so far this week.

Gold retreats from 11-week high ahead of US jobs data

Gold fell from its 11-week high hit on Thursday ahead of US payrolls data and as US dollar won back some of the lost positions against other currencies. Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,213.70 an ounce while US gold futures for April delivery lost $4.10 to $1,215.30 an ounce. Holding of the world’s largest gold-backed ETF SPDR Gold Shares rose on Thursday 1.5 tonnes to 811.22 tonnes.