New record highs for S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 with DAX 40 in close pursuit

Chris Beauchamp IG

'Much better-than-expected Netflix subscriber numbers and US private sector activity growth pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 to new record highs', says Axel Rudolph, Senior Market Analyst at online trading platform IG.

S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and DAX 40 surge ahead

"Following the Shanghai Composite's 1.8% rally on the back of rapidly rising Alibaba shares - as its co-founders bought around $200 million of the company's shares - the DAX 40 rallied by a similar amount as its largest constituent SAP's share price advanced by over 7% amid AI induced restructuring."

Eurozone, UK and US flash PMIs closely watched

"Disappointing eurozone January flash PMI data didn't prevent European stock indices from rallying, especially since US private sector activity growth hit a seven-month high and positive Netflix earnings propelled the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 to new record highs. In the UK the strongest rate of output growth since last June was counterbalanced by weaker-than-expected factory orders. Despite this China dependent luxury goods and mining stocks helped the FTSE 100 to also perform amid talk of a new China stimulus package and as iron ore prices are rising. The price of crude oil continued its advance but the gold price fell despite the US dollar slipping."

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Chris Beauchamp

EUR/USD looks weak below 1.1800

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GBP/USD threatens the 200-day SMA near 1.3440

GBP/USD rapidly leaves behind Wednesday’s strong advance, coming under heavy pressure and retesting the 1.3440 zone, where the critical 200-day SMA is located. Cable’s deep pullback follows the strong gains in the Greenback, while investors continue to pencil in a potential BoE rate cut in March.

Gold trims gains, slips back to around $5,170

Gold is now facing some downside pressure, hovering around the $5,170 region on Thursday. The yellow metal surrenders part of its earlier gains on the back of the resurgence of the buying interest in the Greenback. In the meantime, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to limit the downside potential for now.