US stocks close higher - 27.3.2019

Dollar weakening stalls despite soft data

US stock market resumed advancing on Tuesday led by energy and financial shares. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 2818.46. Dow Jones added 0.6% to 25657.73. The Nasdaq gained 0.7% to 7691.52. The dollar weakening stalled despite soft data indicating housing starts in February declined compared with the same period last year, and S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home prices index growth was slower in January compared with December. 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 0.3% to 96.74 and is higher currently. Futures on US stock indexes indicate higher openings today.

SP500 testing resistance 03/27/2019 Market Overview IFC Markets chart

CAC 40 outperforms European Indices on GDP upgrade

European stocks recovered all of previous session losses on Tuesday. The EUR/USD joined GBP/USD’s continued slide with both pairs lower currently. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.8%. The German DAX 30 gained 0.6% to 11419.48, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.9% as Q4 GDP final reading was upgraded to 1% over year. UK’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.3% to 7196.29 as parliament adopted an amendment on Brexit allowing it to set a timetable for debate and subsequent Brexit votes.

Shanghai Composite leads Asian indices gains

Asian stock indices are mixed today. Nikkei lost 0.4% to 21378.73 with yen little changed against the dollar. Chinese stocks are higher despite a report China’s industrial profits dropped sharply in the first two months of the year: the Shanghai Composite Index is up 0.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is 0.6% higher. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index added another 0.1% as the Australian dollar turned lower against the greenback.

Brent higher

Brent futures prices advance continues today. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday report indicated US crude inventories rose unexpectedly by 1.9 million barrels last week and gasoline inventories dropped by 3.5 million. Prices ended higher yesterday. May Brent added 1.1% to $67.97 a barrel on Tuesday. Today at 16:30 CET the Energy Information Administration will release US Crude Oil Inventories.