Dollar rises on surprise new home sales gain
US stock market closed solidly higher on Tuesday buoyed by upbeat quarterly results. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% to all time high 2933.68. Dow Jones industrial gained 0.6% to 26656.39 led by 2.3% rise in United Technologies. The Nasdaq jumped 1.3% to 8120.82, record high. The dollar strengthening resumed as new home sales rose 4.5% over month in March when a decline was expected. 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 97.59 and is higher currently. Futures on US stock indexes point to lower openings today.
FTSE 100 outperforms European indexes
European stocks ended higher on Tuesday after markets reopened following Easter holiday. EUR/USD joinedGBP/USD’s slide and both are lower currently. The Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.2%, the eighth straight gain led by energy shares. The German DAX 30 edged up 0.1% to 12235.51, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.2%. UK’s FTSE 100advanced 0.9% to 7523.07, a more than six-month high.
Australia’s All Ordinaries Index gains while Asian indices slip
Asian stock indices are mostly lower today. Nikkei lost 0.3% to 22200.00 as yen climb against the dollar continued. Chinese stocks are falling despite reports China central bank injected 267 billion yuan in targeted medium-term loans: the Shanghai Composite Index is down 0.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is 0.7% lower. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index however extended gains 1% boosted by Australian dollar accelerated decline against the greenback as stagnant inflation raised the prospect of a rate cut.
Brent down on expected US crude stock build
Brent futures prices are edging lower today. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday report indicated US crude inventories rose by 6.9 million barrels last week while gasoline inventories climbed by 2.2 million. Prices ended higher yesterday. June Brent rose 0.6% to $74.51 a barrel on Tuesday. Today at 16:30 CET the Energy Information Administration will release US Crude Oil Inventories.
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