US markets ended higher on the back of strong economic data; ahead of official jobs report today. Dow Jones ended up 48 points at 10444, Nasdaq ended up 11.6 points at 2292 and S&P 500 ended up 4 points at 1123. Dow Futures were up 0.1%.
Asian stocks rose for the fourth time in five days. Nikkei 225 was up 2.2% on reports that Bank of Japan may further loosen monetary policy. Taiwan Weighted was up 1.6%, Kospi was up 0.8%, Straits Times was up 0.7% and Shanghai Composite was up 0.5%. In Europe, CAC was down 0.37%, DAX was down 0.39% and FTSE was down 0.11%. CBOE VIX was down 0.6% at 18.7. SGX Nifty was up 0.6%. Germany & Greece meeting today.
US Economic News:
Initial jobless claims for the week ended February 27 stood down 29,000 at 469,000. Continuing claims dropped more than expected to 4.50 million. February same-store sales stood up 1.3%, ahead of market expectations. Pending home sales for January fell 7.6% MoM, against expected increase of 1%. January factory orders stood up 1.7%, in line with expectations. 4Q non-farm productivity stood up 6.9%, exceeded forecast of 6.3%.
Global News:
ECB & BoE kept target interest rates unchanged. China pledged to pare spending on roads, railways and airports and boost outlays on health and social security. Bank of China says “to strictly control monthly lending supply, to seek right time to raise funds via HK stock market”.
Commodities:
April Crude Oil stood down 0.8% at $ 80.21/bbl. April Gold stood down 0.9% at $ 1133/ounce. May Silver stood down 0.9% at $ 17.18/ounce. Baltic Dry Index stood up 7.2% (gained 4.2% a day ago) as around 50 ships were stuck in the ice in the Baltic Sea.
Currencies:
Dollar Index gained 0.7%. Dollar appreciated 83 bps Euro at 1.357. Yen depreciated Vs USD at 89.23.
Data to watch:
February jobs report; consumer credit
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