Durable goods orders made in the United States rose 3.4% in April, whereas analysts polled by MarketWatch expected to see the 0.9% increase on a seasonally adjusted basis. New trucks, cars and commercial jets contributed most to the following growth. In the meantime, the previous month's durable goods orders were revised up from 1.3% to 1.9%.
On Thursday, fresh figures from the Department of Labor showed that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time during the week ended May 21 dropped to 268,000, following the 278,00 reading seen in the previous seven days and the 275,000 market forecast. It was the 64 consecutive week since initial jobless claims remained below the 300,000 level.
Gold erased all its early gains on Wednesday and dropped below the $1230 mark. The bullion lost 0.55%, trading at $1,222.50 per troy ounce by 14:15 GMT on the New York Stock Exchange and , whereas silver added 0.38%, trading at $16.315 per ounce at the same time.
Europe's major stock indices closed Wednesday's trading session strongly in the green. Germany's DAX 30 Index added 1.50%, finishing at 10,208.31, Britain's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.73%, closing at 6,264.88 points. Meanwhile, France's CAC 40 Index rose 1.13% to 4,481.49, whereas the pan-European Stoxx 50 Index grew 1.72%, finishing at 3,061.91 points.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures traded 0.86% higher at $49.04, whereas Brent futures jumped 1.30%, trading at $49.24 by 15:20 GMT on the New York Stock Exchange. On Wednesday, it was the first time since November 2015 that oil prices touched the $50 level.
In its weekly report released on Wednesday, the EIA reported that US crude oil inventories dropped by 4.2 million barrels during the week ended May 20, following the 1.3 million-barrel increase seen in the previous seven days and surpassing the 1.7 million-barrel fall expected by analysts.
Official data from the US Department of Commerce showed on Wednesday that the country's trade deficit grew to $57.5 billion in April, compared to the $60 market forecast and following the $57.1 billion gap seen in the third month of the year. Exports of goods rose 2.4% to to $119.3 billion, whereas imports increased 1.9% to $176.8 billion in April.
On Wednesday, financial agency Markit announced May's US preliminary Purchasing Managers' Index reading for the service sector. The Index dropped to 51.2 points, following the 52.8 result seen in the previous month, when it hit a three-month high, and missing the 53.0 market forecast.
The bullion dropped to its four week-low on Tuesday, following a fresh stream of hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials, which helped the US Dollar to trade higher. Thus, gold prices declined 1.81% to $1,228.90 per troy ounce by 17:00 GMT on the New York Stock Exchange.
The US Dollar traded higher against other major currencies by 16:30 GMT on the New York Stock Exchange. It appreciated 0.63% against the Japanese Yen, trading at 110.03 yens. Meanwhile, the Aussie dropped 0.54% and the Euro declined 0.63% against the Greenback, trading at $0.7185 and $1.1143 respectively.
Europe's major stock markets finished higher on Tuesday, helped by a strong rally in the banking sector, whereas the German GDP data met analysts' expectations. Germany's DAX 30 Index added 2.33%, closing at 10,071.94 and touching its one-week high of 10,077.50. Meanwhile, Britain's FTSE 100 Index rose 1.51%, finishing at 6,229.00, France's CAC 40 Index grew 2.54% to 4,435.09, and the pan-European Euro Stoxx
New US home sales grew 16.6% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 619,000 units in April, posting the highest result since January 2008 and the largest percent increase since January 1992. Meanwhile, the previous month's reading was revised up to 531,000 from the originally reported 511,000 units. Analysts polled by Reuters expected new home sales to rise to 523,000 in April.
The largest US equity markets posted gains shortly after the opening bell on Tuesday, ahead of the new US home sales report. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index grew 0.55%, starting at 2,059.30, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.63% and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.59%, opening at 17,602.50 and 4,794.00 points respectively.
The British Pound grew around 1% against the US Dollar by 12:00 GMT on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, breaking the $1.46 level. The Treasury Select Committee provided a boost to the Sterling, as well as the chances of Britain voting to leave the EU in the June 23 referendum significantly fell.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1.9%, trading at $47.49, whereas Brent lost 2.1%, trading at $47.71 by 13:55 GMT on the New York Stock Exchange. In the meantime, gold declined 0.5% to $1,246.40 per troy ounce, and silver decreased 0.9%, trading at $16.39.
The Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index Report for the United States revealed on Monday that the country's PMI dropped to 50.5 in May, following the 50.8 reading seen in the previous month and falling far behind the 51.0 market forecast.
The largest US stock markets opened Monday's trading session slightly lower. At the start of the session, the Standard and Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.06%, opening at 2,048.21 points. In the meantime, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index lost 0.03%, opening at 17,476.26, whereas the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.05%, starting at 4,769.56 points.
On Monday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development stated in its Economic Outlook 2016 for Africa that, on average, the continent's economies will rise 3.7% in 2016, while the pace of Africa's economic growth in 2017 will be faster and should grow to 4.5%.
The Markit Flash Composite PMI dropped to 52.9 in May, following the 53.0 result seen in April and posting the lowest result this year. Analysts polled by Reuters expected the Index to improve to 53.2. In the meantime, the Flash Manufacturing PMI came in at 51.5 in May, down from 51.7 in the previous month and compared to market expectations
Stocks in Europe pared gains and were flat-to-lower, while traders are digesting new services and manufacturing PMI data. In the meantime some big companies are having falls weighting in on the general market mood. German DAX 30 and UK's FTSE 100 indices remained unchanged. French CAC 40 lost 0.3% to trade at 4,340.74 points.
Crude prices decreased, as traders tried to calculate a rebalancing point for oil after US rig count was reported unchanged on Friday. WTI futures fell 1.2% to$47.82 per barrel and Brent dropped 1.1% to trade at $48.19 per barrel. Both benchmarks ended previous week in the green and hit multi-month heights. In the meantime, Alexander Novak, Russian Energy Minister, announced,
Euro Zone's composite and manufacturing PMI's were published on Monday and they disappointed, indicating at a weaker economy. Manufacturing PMI declined to 51.5 from 51.7 points and service PMI stayed at the same level of 53.1 points. The Euro declined to daily lows at 1.1210 against the US Dollar on the news.
On Friday, major US equity markets opened in green, recovering some of the early losses. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.3%, opening at 2,046.00, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index grew 0.2%, starting at 17,478.00 points. In the meantime, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.5% to 4,735.00 points.
Crude oil futures opened Friday's North American trading session lower, whereas gold and silver posted some gains. WTI lost 0.12%, opening at $48.10, while Brent dropped 0.23%, starting at $48.70 per barrel. In the meantime, the bullion added 0.29% to $1,258.40 per troy ounce, and silver jumped 0.80% to $16.63 per ounce on the NYSE.