US equities halt retreat ahead of Thanksgiving holiday - 22.11.2018

Dollar slips on soft durable goods data

US stocks retreat halted as technology shares recovered partly from previous session losses. The S&P 500 added 0.3% to 2649.93. The Dow Jones industrial average however slid less than a point to 24464.69. Nasdaq composite index rose 0.9% to 6972.25. Both SP500 and Dow remained in negative territory year to date. The dollar weakening resumed as core capital goods orders fell for the third month in a row in October: 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, slipped 0.1% to 96.70 and is lower currently. US financial markets will be closed today for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

DAX 30 leads European indices gains

European stocks ended higher on Wednesday led by banking and energy shares. EUR/USD extended gains despite European Union’s rejection of Italy’s 2019 budget plan signaling it may sanction Italy’s government. The GBP/USD edged lower with both pairs higher currently. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.1%. Germany’s DAX 30 jumped 1.6% to 11244.17. France’s CAC 40 added 1% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 1.5% to 7050.23.

Chinese stock slip

Asian stock indices are mixed today in thin trading with US markets closed for holiday. Nikkei rose 0.7% to 21646.55 with yen little changed against the dollar. China’s stocks are mixed despite news Peter Navarro, President Trump's top trade adviser and trade hawk, will be excluded from the upcoming trade talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping: the Shanghai Composite Index is down 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is 0.1% lower. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index rebounded 0.9% while the Australian dollar turned lower against the greenback.

Brent down on President Trump’s tweet

Brent futures prices are edging lower today as President Trump thanked Saudi Arabia for lower oil prices in his tweet, but also said “let’s go lower!”. Prices ended higher yesterday despite the Energy Information Administration report that US crude stockpile rose 4.9 million barrels last week to 446.91 milion, the ninth straight weekly build: the January Brent crude gained 1.5% to $63.48 a barrel on Wednesday.