Sensex has a bumper week: surges nearly 4,500 points in just 5 days
Indian stock markets extended gains to the fifty day with benchmark index Sensex rising 117 points after the Reserve Bank kept interest rates unchanged but continued its accommodative stance to revive growth. The 30-share BSE benchmark briefly crossed the 51,000 level, before ending 117 points higher at its fresh closing record of 50,731.63. Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty scaled the 15,000 mark during the day but shed some ground to close at its all-time closing high of 14,924, up 0.2 percent. In just five days, the Sensex has risen about 4,500 points or about 10 percent, its best since the week ending April 10, largely on optimism from measures announced in the Budget on Monday.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Saudi Arabia stocks higher at close of trade
Saudi Arabia stocks were higher after the close on Sunday, as gains in the Media & Publishing, Transport and Industrial Investment sectors led shares higher. At the close in Saudi Arabia, the Tadawul All Share gained 0.81 percent. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange by 182 to 17 and 4 ended unchanged. Shares in Saudi Arabia Refineries Co. rose to 5-year highs; rising 9.92 percent or 12.40 to 137.40. Crude oil for March delivery was up 1.51 percent or 0.85 to $57.08 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in April rose 0.95 percent or 0.56 to hit $59.56 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 1.33 percent or 23.90 to trade at $1815.10 a troy ounce. EUR/SAR was up 0.73 percent to 4.5196, while USD/SAR rose 0.00 percent to 3.7510. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.64 percent at 90.968.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
CAC 40 forecast: French index threatening move to the upside
The CAC 40 gapped higher to kick off trading on Wednesday, to not only break above the 5500 level, but also clear the 50-day EMA which had been so important over the last couple of weeks. When you look at the chart, it is easy to see that we have found a significant amount of support in the vicinity of the €5400 level, so it clearly makes sense that we would go racing towards the highs off the bottom after we broke above the top of the inverted hammer from the Monday session. It was a good day in Paris, as the stock market rose 1.86 percent, right along many of the other indices globally. It looks as if the 5600 level above could be the next area to pay attention to, but a base has been put in just below, and at this point, pullbacks will continue to be bought into. Furthermore, if the market can break above the 5600 level, then it is very likely to go looking towards the 5700 level after that, which was the recent high.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Dow Jones, ASX 200, Nikkei 225 forecast: jobless claims, stimulus in focus
Asia-Pacific markets are poised for a cautious start on Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 and ASX 200 indices retracing from recent highs after an uninspiring session from Wall Street. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices closed up 0.12 percent and 0.10 percent respectively while the Nasdaq lost 0.02 percent. Oil prices advanced to their highest level in 12 months, backed by stimulus hopes, the vaccine rollout and OPEC+’s commitments to rein in production. Energy (2.18percent) and materials (1.36percent) were the best performing sectors, while healthcare (-0.66percent) and communication services (-0.10percent) trailed.
Market participants are waiting for another round of US fiscal stimulus to foster a faster pace of recovery via providing support to households, small businesses and the vaccine rollout. The Democrats are working towards approving President Joe Biden’s US$ 1.9 trillion bill without Republican support. The Democrat-led Senate started a reconciliation process, which would allow them to pass the stimulus package with a simple majority and avoid a filibuster that requires at least 10 Republican votes to support the bill. Renewed stimulus hopes led longer-dated US Treasury yields to climb as expectations for future demand, output and inflation rose. The 10-, 20- and 30-year Treasury yields advanced 12.1, 15.2 and 15.2 bps from a week ago to 1.139 percent, 1.733 percent and 1.927 percent respectively. The longer-dated rates climbed while near-dated ones dropped, leading the yield curve to steepen further. Higher yields may exert downward pressure over riskier assets and precious metal prices as they become less appealing when higher Treasury rates are taken into consideration.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
FTSE 100 ends just below the flatline; wall street, including gamestop, having more success
London’s leading index ended Friday down 14 points, 0.2 percent, at 6,489. The FTSE 250, meanwhile, gained 257 points, 1.2 percent, to 21,067. “Some negative sentiment has returned to the equity markets after it was announced that Robinhood, the trading app, removed limits on trading Gamestop – the stock at the centre of the recent Reddit-retail investor frenzy. In the US, the Dow was up 96 points, 0.3 percent, to 31,152 at midday. The Nasdaq Composite gained 61 points, 0.5 percent, 13,839, and the S&P 500 improved 15 points, 0.4 percent, to 3,887. “The no-so-hot jobs report has not stopped the Dow Jones as well as the S&P 500 from gaining ground, although the indices are off the highs of the session. Earlier it was announced the Senate has adopted a measure to fast-track President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan so optimism is still in reasonably healthy supply. The jobs update made for interesting reading but the stimulus story is still the big issue of the week. The FTSE 100 has fought its way back above the flatline at 6,508.71, having been down 0.7 percent around the time of the US jobs report as the dollar dipped to give sterling a lift. Wall Street also stumbled after its initial higher start, with the Nasdaq Composite even dropping into the red. GameStop shorts were down US$8.7 billion in realized and unrealized losses so far in 2021.