Stock Markets – Closing Note – 20 Sep
Ger30, UK100 and SP500 are CFD’s, written over the Dax30, Footsie100 and S&P500 Index futures:
European markets closed higher, boosted by the behavior of the US market that was influenced by tension decrease regarding the trade war between the US and China. The highlight was for oil, as Donald Trump once again used the social network tweeter to demand the immediate reduction of prices of this raw material. The US President said that the Middle East countries continue to raise oil prices and left a warning about their safety: "We shall remember". This warning of Donald Trump arrives just days before the meeting of the delegates of OPEC, scheduled for this Sunday. Following this meeting, the formal meeting of ministers from the countries of that organization will follow. In international markets, the price of oil fell, with Brent down about 0.90%.
Wall Street traded higher, for the reasons already mentioned and with the banking sector to favor the indices. Banks were favored by the 10-year yield increase of OTs (which exceeded 3.09%). Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Bank of America led the gains. On the macroeconomic front, the number of weekly applications for unemployment benefits reached 201,000, compared to 210,000 expected and 204,000 previously. On the other hand, the Philadelphia Fed's activity index stood at 22.9 in September, quite a bit higher than 11.9 in August and 18.0 forecasted by economists. In August, the economy's advanced indicators increased by 0.40%, higher than the estimated 0.50%. On the real estate market, sales of used homes last month remained unchanged relative to July, reaching 5.34 million homes. Economists pointed to an increase of 0.50% for the 5.37 million houses.