Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Stocks climb on muted trade hopes, dollar slips

Published 24/05/2019, 21:29
Updated 24/05/2019, 21:29
© Reuters. Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York

© Reuters. Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - World equity markets rebounded on Friday from the previous day's sharp fall, after U.S. President Donald Trump said complaints against China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd might be resolved within the framework of a Sino-U.S. trade deal.

Tensions remained high, with China accusing U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of fabricating rumors after he said Huawei's chief executive was lying about the telecom network gear maker's ties to the Chinese government.

On Thursday, Trump said a trade deal could resolve U.S. complaints against Huawei, but he also called the company "very dangerous."

"Today's action is mostly based on sentiment because the overall market is trading at a full valuation," Rahul Shah, CEO of Ideal Asset Management in New York, said of equities.

Investments remain highly susceptible to headline risk, Shah said, though investors took in stride a U.S. Commerce Department report that said new orders for domestic capital goods fell more than expected in April.

The report also showed March orders were not as strong as previously thought, and shipments were weak over the last two months, further evidence that manufacturing and the U.S. economy were slowing.

MSCI's gauge of stock performance across 47 countries gained 0.39%, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 0.56%.

Investors appeared unfazed by British Prime Minister Theresa May's resignation as Conservative party leader after failing in a final attempt to win parliamentary support for her deal to exit the European Union.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 95.22 points, or 0.37%, to 25,585.69. The S&P 500 gained 3.82 points, or 0.14%, to 2,826.06 and the Nasdaq Composite added 8.73 points, or 0.11%, to 7,637.01.

For the week, the Dow fell 0.68%, the S&P 500 slid 1.16% and the Nasdaq declined 2.29%.

The dollar edged off two-year highs set on Thursday, pressured as the weak U.S. manufacturing activity data sparked worries the trade conflict with China may hurt the world's largest economy.

Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar was down 0.29% at 97.575, well off the two-year high of 98.371 the previous session.

The euro rose 0.24% to $1.1207 while the Japanese yen strengthened 0.27% versus the greenback at 109.29.

U.S. Treasury yields rose, as Trump's remarks about Huawei encouraged investors to book profits a day after a surge in government bond prices and ahead of a long U.S. holiday weekend.

Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes fell 8/32 in price to push yields up to 2.3237%.

U.S. markets will close on Monday for Memorial Day, a federal holiday.

May's resignation briefly sent sterling fluctuating wildly, rising nearly half a percent against the dollar after the announcement and traded near those gains at $1.2714. Against the euro, sterling snapped a 14-day losing streak.

Oil prices climbed 1% but still posted their biggest weekly drop of the year, pressured by rising inventories and worries about the global economy.

U.S. crude inventories rose to their highest since July 2017, suggesting ample supplies in the world's top consumer. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 93 cents to settle at $68.69 a barrel. For the week, it fell almost 5%.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude traded up 72 cents to settle at $58.63. For the week WTI fell 6.5%.

Gold steadied, under pressure from the equities rebound but supported by a weaker dollar and growing expectations for a U.S. interest rate cut.

© Reuters. Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York

U.S. gold futures for June settled down 0.1% at$1,283.60 an ounce.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.