CMC Markets Weekly Report
Stocks in the US closed out the week in positive territory, with the S&P 500 extending gains to a new high, as Wall Street cheered some better-than-expected corporate earnings results.
Stocks in the US closed out the week in positive territory, with the S&P 500 extending gains to a new high, as Wall Street cheered some better-than-expected corporate earnings results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 28 points to finish at 15,399.65, after fluctuating between small gains and losses for most of the session. Shares in Google soared nearly 14 percent to top $1000 a share for the first time following better than expected earnings results.
The S&P500 advanced 11.35 points to close at 1,744.50 and the Nasdaq rallied 51.13 points to end at 3,914.28, hitting a fresh 13-year high.
So far, 85 S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results, with earnings topping expectations by an average of 4.2 percent, according to the latest data from Thomson Reuters.
In commodity markets, oil prices rose modestly in response to positive economic data from China. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in November, closed at $US100.81 a barrel, up 14 US cents from Thursday's close. Brent North Sea crude for December rose 83 US cents to settle at $US109.94 a barrel in London trade.
Gold futures declined as some investors worry that demand will falter after prices in the week climbed back above $US1,300 a troy ounce. The most-actively traded contract, for December delivery, on Friday fell $US8.40, or 0.6 per cent, to settle at $US1,314.60 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange (LME) have closed mixed, with all contracts pulling back after encouraging Chinese economic data made for a strong start to the day. At the close of open-outcry trading on Friday, LME 3-month copper was 0.2 per cent higher on the day at $US7,245 a metric tonne. LME 3-month aluminium was 0.1 per cent lower at $US1,847 a ton.
The AUD is trading at 96.71 US cents after hitting a high of 96.82 cents earlier in the session.
This week brings a deluge of data following delays due to the partial government shutdown in the US however the focus will be on the non-farm payrolls for September will be released on Tuesday.
Making news today, the Commonwealth Bank's business sales indicator for September is released and in the US, existing home sales data is reported.