U.S. stocks finished with little change following comments by Fed members that there is no rush to increase interest rates due to worries that it could hamper global growth. Further to this, James Bullard, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, stated that quantitative easing could actually be extended. The government’s asset purchasing program was set to end this month. Data from the U.S. was also mostly positive with Initial Jobless Claims coming out at a 14 year low and Industrial Production climbing 1%, higher than the expected 0.4%. At session close the S&P 500 was 0.01% higher at 1,862.76 and the Dow Jones was 0.15% lower at 16,117.24.
Asian markets were mixed today. The Nikkei lost 1.4% after reaching an almost 5 month low a day earlier. The Hang Seng, however, added 0.53% following gains in casino shares. Macau Casino climbed 5.3% after showing profit to increase by 4% during the past year and Galaxy Entertainment Group added 4.5%. Gains were also seen as markets reacted to Bullard’s comments and welcomed news that ending asset purchases could be delayed. Protests are also falling as talks between students and the government have once again been agreed.
European markets are higher today as consistently bad data leads to speculation that the ECB may act and inject more stimulus into the economy. The European CPI was released yesterday and showed just a 0.3% increase once again. Benoit Coeure, a French economist on the ECB’s board, spoke and stated that the bank could begin to purchase assets in the upcoming days. Currently, the CAC 40 is up 1.74% while Germany’s DAX is up 1.52% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.81%.
October 17, 2014 – Indices News
U.S. stocks finished with little change following comments by Fed members that there is no rush to increase interest rates due to worries that it could hamper global growth. Further to this, James Bullard, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, stated that quantitative easing could actually be extended. The government’s asset purchasing program was set to end this month. Data from the U.S. was also mostly positive with Initial Jobless Claims coming out at a 14 year low and Industrial Production climbing 1%, higher than the expected 0.4%. At session close the S&P 500 was 0.01% higher at 1,862.76 and the Dow Jones was 0.15% lower at 16,117.24.
Asian markets were mixed today. The Nikkei lost 1.4% after reaching an almost 5 month low a day earlier. The Hang Seng, however, added 0.53% following gains in casino shares. Macau Casino climbed 5.3% after showing profit to increase by 4% during the past year and Galaxy Entertainment Group added 4.5%. Gains were also seen as markets reacted to Bullard’s comments and welcomed news that ending asset purchases could be delayed. Protests are also falling as talks between students and the government have once again been agreed.
European markets are higher today as consistently bad data leads to speculation that the ECB may act and inject more stimulus into the economy. The European CPI was released yesterday and showed just a 0.3% increase once again. Benoit Coeure, a French economist on the ECB’s board, spoke and stated that the bank could begin to purchase assets in the upcoming days. Currently, the CAC 40 is up 1.74% while Germany’s DAX is up 1.52% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.81%.
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