US stocks edge up, S&P 500 & Nasdaq set another record highs

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

Major US equity indices witnessed mixed opening on Wednesday, with a rally in tech stocks supporting the broader markets and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) treading water near yesterday's closing level.

During the opening hour of trade, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 30-points to fresh intraday record highs, while the broader S&P 500 Index also entered into record territory and added 6-points to 2,467. Meanwhile, DJIA was flat-lined around 21,578 as investors digested a batch of mixed corporate earnings reports.

Financial lead today's rally on Wednesday, with shares of Morgan Stanley rallying nearly 3.5% after reporting better-than-expected earnings and revenue growth. Separately, shares of IBM, CSX Corp. and United Continental Holdings Inc. dropped anywhere between 4-4.5% during early trade after their releases late Tuesday.

Investors would continue to keep a close watch on the earnings report in order to justify current stretched valuations and the market's record setting rally following the US Presidential election.

On the economic data front, both the housing starts and building permits bettered expectations and rebounded sharply in June, but were largely ignored by the markets.

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

AUD/USD looks offered just above 0.7100

AUD/USD has extended Monday’s pessimism, briefly breaching below the key. 0.7100 contention zone to hit three-day lows. The firmer tone in the Greenback has been keeping the Aussie under pressure while investors continued to gear up for the upcoming Trump-Xi Summit on Thursday.

USD/JPY holds small gains near 157.50 as JPY intervention risks loom

USD/JPY posts modest gains while trading near 157.50 in the Asian session on Tuesday as intervention fears help limit losses for the Japanese Yen. However, the BoJ's dovish rate hike to a 31-year high keeps JPY bulls on the back foot. Meanwhile, the US Dollar retains a bullish undertone amid the Fed's hawkish outlook and escalating Middle East tensions, providing tailwinds for the pair.

Gold makes a U-turn; focus shifts to $4,400

Gold regains balance and now trades with decent gains, approaching the key $4,400 mark per troy ounce on Tuesday. The yellow metal’s advance comes despite the resumption of the buying interest in the US Dollar, mixed US Treasury yields and geopolitical uncertainty.

Bitcoin reclaims key moving averages, altering bear cycle pattern

Bitcoin (BTC) may have altered its bear-cycle pattern after climbing above its 50-day, 100-day, 200-day, and 200-week moving averages, according to K33. In a Tuesday report, K33 noted that every time Bitcoin reclaimed all four major averages before now, it happened after the market had already established its cycle low.

Trump meets Xi: Why markets are watching this summit so closely

United States (US) President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet in Washington on Thursday for a summit closely watched by markets. After several months of easing trade tensions between the US and China, the meeting could determine whether the world's two largest economies extend their truce or enter a new period of uncertainty.

BoJ Recap: Not as hawkish as expected

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised its short-term interest-rate target to 1.25% from 1.00% in a 7-2 vote, marking another step in the normalisation of monetary policy and widely matching what everyone has been expecting for weeks.