President Trump’s comments buoy markets - 15.5.2019

Dollar gains on import prices rise

US stock market rebounded on Tuesday after President Trump said he had not decided whether to impose tariffs on an additional $300 billion of Chinese goods, and it should be clear in “three or four weeks” if the last trip of US delegation to China to discuss the trade deal was successful. The S&P 500 gained 0.8% to 2834.41. Dow Jones industrial added 0.8% to 25532.05. The Nasdaq rose 1.1% to 7734.49. The dollar snapped four-session slide as small business optimism rose to a four-month high in April while US import prices rose below expected 0.2% in April. The live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, rose 0.2% to 97.513 but is lower currently. Futures on US stock indexes point to lower openings today.

CAC40 outperforms European indexes

European stocks rebounded on Tuesday as market sentiment was buoyed by late Monday comments by President Trump. Both the EUR/USD and GBP/USD continued their slide and are lower currently. The Stoxx Europe 600 ended 0.9% higher led by technology shares. The German DAX 30 added 1.0% to 11991.62, France’s CAC 40 jumped 1.5%. UK’s FTSE 100 rose 1.1% to 7241.60.

Shanghai Composite leads Asian Indexes rebound

Asian stock indices recovered most of their previous session losses today. Nikkei gained 0.6% to 21188.56 as yen decline against the dollar continued. Chinese stocks turned higher after President Trump comment calling the tariff war a “little squabble” while the US started the legal process of imposing 25% tariffs on another $325 billion of Chinese goods: the Shanghai Composite Index is up 1.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is 0.4% higher. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index turned 0.7% higher as Australian dollar accelerated its decline against the greenback.

Brent rising on Middle East tensions

Brent futures prices are edging higher today. Prices rose yesterday as Saudi Arabia reported drones attacked its oil pipeline and energy infrastructure. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday report indicated US crude inventories rose by 8.6 million barrels last week while gasoline inventories grew by 0.567 million. Prices ended higher yesterday. July Brent rose 1.4% to $71.24 a barrel on Tuesday. Today at 16:30 CET the Energy Information Administration will release US Crude Oil Inventories.