US Markets See Best Week for Two Years, Brent Crude Falls Further
October 27, 2014 8:58 am
Lifted by earnings from Microsoft and Procter & Gamble as well as easing concerns over the spread of Ebola in the United States, the US markets closed out their best week in nearly two years on Friday. The Dow closed up 127 point at 16805 and the S&P500 closed up 13 points at 1964. The Euro extended its recovery from a two week low set on Thursday, edging up 0.3% to $1.2707. The common currency also briefly rose to 137.48 yen, its highest level in more than two weeks. The dollar rose to as high as 108.38, its highest level since Oct 8 before edging back to 107.90 yen, down 0.2 percent from late U.S. levels last week. The Aussie rose 0.3 percent to stand at $0.8816. Against the yen, it reached as high as 95.31, its strongest in over two weeks. In the commodities space Brent crude extended losses, falling 20 cents to $85.93 a barrel after Goldman Sachs cut its price forecasts. Crude continued on a months-long rout as signs of rising global supply threatened deeper losses. Gold edged lower as robust equity markets and strong U.S. economic data dented demand for the precious metal. Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,230.97 an ounce. Roughly one in five of the euro zone’s top lenders failed landmark health checks at the end of last year but most have since repaired their finances, the European Central Bank said on Sunday, while Lloyds narrowly passed a test set by European regulators to assess whether banks have enough capital to weather another economic crash, calling into question its chances of re-starting dividends. Lloyds is currently trading down 2% at 75p per share. Today sees the release of US Housing Index data at 2pm with the figure forecast at 0.5%. After a positive start, European indices are now in negative territory, with the FTSE down by 0.21% and the DAX down by 0.34%.
Lifted by earnings from Microsoft and Procter & Gamble as well as easing concerns over the spread of Ebola in the United States, the US markets closed out their best week in nearly two years on Friday. The Dow closed up 127 point at 16805 and the S&P500 closed up 13 points at 1964.
The Euro extended its recovery from a two week low set on Thursday, edging up 0.3% to $1.2707. The common currency also briefly rose to 137.48 yen, its highest level in more than two weeks. The dollar rose to as high as 108.38, its highest level since Oct 8 before edging back to 107.90 yen, down 0.2 percent from late U.S. levels last week. The Aussie rose 0.3 percent to stand at $0.8816. Against the yen, it reached as high as 95.31, its strongest in over two weeks.
In the commodities space Brent crude extended losses, falling 20 cents to $85.93 a barrel after Goldman Sachs cut its price forecasts. Crude continued on a months-long rout as signs of rising global supply threatened deeper losses. Gold edged lower as robust equity markets and strong U.S. economic data dented demand for the precious metal. Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,230.97 an ounce.
Roughly one in five of the euro zone’s top lenders failed landmark health checks at the end of last year but most have since repaired their finances, the European Central Bank said on Sunday, while Lloyds narrowly passed a test set by European regulators to assess whether banks have enough capital to weather another economic crash, calling into question its chances of re-starting dividends. Lloyds is currently trading down 2% at 75p per share.
Today sees the release of US Housing Index data at 2pm with the figure forecast at 0.5%. After a positive start, European indices are now in negative territory, with the FTSE down by 0.21% and the DAX down by 0.34%.
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