At start of New York Stock Exchange Thursday session major indices opened in a bit positive territory. Standard & Poor's 500 increased 0.3% and opened at 2,7079.80 points. In the meantime, Dow Jones gained 0.3% to open at 17,770.00 points and NASDAQ started day's session up 0.3 opening at 4.775.00 points.
On Thursday, the Bank of England left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record-low 0.5% and revised down its growth outlook for the Q2 from 0.5% to 0.3%. Moreover, the BoE lowered its annual growth forecast for the UK from 2.2% to 2.0%, and highlighted that the country's inflation rate remained below the 2% target level.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased to 294,000 in the week ending March 7, the Department of Labor announced on Thursday, whereas analysts expected to see a meager decrease to 270,000, following the previous week's 274,000 initial claims. The number of applications last week was the most since the period ended January 16.
The major US equity markets opened Wednesday's trading session in red, following yesterday's successful closing. At the open of the North American trading session, the Standard % Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.2%, starting at 2,079.80, whereas the Dow Jones Index lost 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3%, opening at 17,861.10 and 4,797.37 points respectively.
On Wednesday, the Sterling traded higher against the US Dollar and the Euro, as soon as Britain's Office for National Statistics released the country's industrial production and manufacturing production data. The British Pound was seen at 1.4411 against the Greenback, while the Euro traded at 0.7902 against the Sterling. Meanwhile, the LSE dropped 0.4%, the Euro Stoxx 50 Index declined 0.9%,
On Wednesday, the yellow metal rebounded after its two-week lows, as the US Dollar showed weakness against other world currencies. The bullion added 1.2%, trading at $1,279.40 per ounce by 14:00 GMT on the NYSE, after touching its lowest level since April 27 of $1,264.80 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, gold dropped around 3%, after reaching $1,300 level last week for the first
Industrial production in the United Kingdom increased 0.3% on a monthly basis in the third month of the year, better than the last month's drop of 0.2%, bur worse than forecasts of a 0.5% gain. On an annual basis, Britain's industrial production dropped 0.2%, surpassing analysts' outlooks of a 0.4% fall and following the previous month's 0.1% increase.
Britain's manufacturing production jumped 0.1% month-over-month in March, whereas analysts expected to see a 0.3% rise after the previous month's revised down drop of 0.9%. In the meantime,on a year-over-year basis, the UK's manufacturing production declined at a 1.9% rate, meeting analysts' expectations and following February's -1.6% reading.
According to the latest JOLTS report released on Tuesday, March registered 5.8 million job openings, whereas analysts expected only 5.5 million openings. The third month of the year showed the second best result after July 2015. In the meantime, the quits rate dropped to 2.1% from 2.2%, and the layoffs and discharges was 1.2% in March.
The UK's National Institute of Economic and Social Research revised down its growth forecast for the current year from 2.3% to 2.0%. In addition, the NIESR stated that the Bank of England's key interest rate would stay at the same level until the end of 2017, despite the Brexit outcome.
The Department of Commerce reported on Tuesday that Wholesale Inventories in the United States increased 0.1% month-over-month in March, in line with market expectations and surpassing the previous month's reading, which was revised downward to -0.6% from the earlier estimate of -0.5%.
According to the latest data, the UK trade deficit narrowed more-than-expected in the third month of the year. The country's trade gap shrank from February's revised 11.4 billion to 3.8 billion pounds, surpassing the 4.2 billion forecast, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. Nevertheless, the trade deficit in the Q1 of 2016 showed a 13.3 billion reading, the
US stock futures hiked on Tuesday, ahead of corporate earnings result and JOLTS job opening data releases. S&P 500 futures traded 0.6% higher at 2 066.5 points, anticipating markets to open in the green zone, picking up the positive sentiment from Asian and European markets, which both experienced an uplift during their trading sessions.
The Australian Dollar traded 0.4% higher against the US Dollar on Tuesday as result of surging commodity prices, erasing losses from the previous session. The Aussie experienced significant downward pressure after RBA's rate cut the week before, which accordingly set resistance at the weekly low of $0.7350.
Following volatility the day before, oil prices surged on Tuesday, awaiting the weekly data release on US inventories. The number for the week ending April 29 surprised analysts with a staggering 500% jump above expectations, showing 2.78 million barrels, which was followed by an expectation of 500 000 barrels for the subsequent week.
The data release on German factories, mines and utilities showed a 1.3% drop in the seasonally adjusted monthly output, falling short of analyst expectations of a 0.2% decline. This puts the German industrial output on course to a 0.3% yearly rise, aggrieving analysts who forecast a 1.1% advance.
The Chinese CPI proved its stability with a 2.3% year-on-year increase for the third consecutive month. The growth in consumer prices is fuelled by an increase in demand as well as more expensive food and fuel, with pork prices being a major contributor with a 30% surge over the last year.
The recent disappointing Chinese trade data put pressure on the Aussie and Kiwi. The New Zealand Dollar traded 0.8% lower at $0.6780 against the US Dollar by 15:00 GMT on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, whereas the Greenback increased 0.2% to 94.04 points.
The largest US stock markets traded slightly higher by 14:30 GMT. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped around 0.2% to 2,060.30 points, whereas the Nasdaq Composite Index added almost 0.4%, trading at 4,753.10 points, as soon as the Fed released its promising Labour Market Conditions Index.
According to the latest data released on Monday, the monthly Labour Market Conditions Index in the United States improved to a negative 0.9 reading in the fourth month of the year, following the last month's –2.1 and surpassing the -1.0 forecast. It was the fourth consecutive month since the Index remained in the negative zone.
The Halifax House Price Index's growth rate in the United Kingdom decreased to 9.2% year-over-year in the fourth month of the year, following the 10.1% reading seen in the previous month. In the meantime, the country's House Price Index declined 0.8% on a monthly basis in April.
Despite a more-than-expected oil inventory rise reported on Wednesday, concerns over further potential oil supply disruptions from Canada and Libya pushed oil prices higher on Thursday. WTI increased around 4.7%, while Brent jumped 4.2%, trading at $45.83 and $46.50 per barrel respectively on the London Stock Exchange by 13:10 GMT.
US stock markets opened higher on Thursday as buying was triggered on the rise in oil prices. As the North American trading session started, the S$P 500 Index jumped around 0.3% to 2,056.20 points, whereas the Dow Jones Index gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.3%, opening at 17,693.10 and 4,738.70 points respectively.
Initial Jobless Claims in the United States increased more-than-expected in the week ending April 30. According to the Department of Labour, initial filings for unemployment aid rose 17,000 to 274,000, posting the biggest increase since February 2015 and surpassing analysts' forecasts for a 260,000 rise.