S&P500
The US market showed strong gains. The correction is over.
On Thursday, the main US indices showed a strong daily gain. The Dow was up 1.6%, the NASDAQ gained 0.7%, and the S&P 500 added 0.3%.
Big investors have decided that the market has good growth prospects and have moved on to massive purchases.
Natural gas prices rose 8% yesterday to $1,213.
Crude oil was up 1% on Friday. Brent Crude closed 84.80 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures is above $81. Oil prices are rising on the recovery of the global economy. Despite the prolonged covid pandemic, demand is rising, but OPEC is not increasing production and supply sufficiently. The gas crisis in Europe is also pushing oil prices up.
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide keeps rising. On Wednesday, there were 440,000 new cases around the world. In the US, there were 90,000 cases. The UK saw an increase of 45,000.
The S&P500 index is trading at 4,438 and is expected to be in the 4,410–4,480 range. Joe Biden signed the law to increase US debt limit by $480bn, which will cover the US until early December. Alcoa Inc., the largest US aluminum producer, posted a profit of $820m against a loss a year ago. Profit at JPMorgan, the biggest US bank, rose 24% to $11.7bn year-on-year. The bank's shares gained 1.6%.
Wholesale prices in the US rose by 8% in September. Core producer prices, which exclude prices for food and fuel, remained at +7%.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits dropped below 300,000 for the first time in well over a year in the week ended October 9th. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 293,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week's revised level of 329,000. Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also tumbled by 134,000 to 2.593 million.
The retail sales data for September will be released today. Analysts forecast a 0.5% drop in sales. Excluding cars, growth will be 0.6%.
USDX is trading at 93.90 and is expected to be in the 93.60–94.20 range. The dollar has not received any support from the Fed, such as harsh statements against inflation.
The USD/CAD pair is trading at 1.2350. It remains in the range of 1.2280-1.2400. The dollar is not climbing and oil is hitting new highs and putting pressure on the Canadian currency.
US market boosted yesterday by strong Q3 business reports and the passage of a bill to raise the US public debt limit. However, the real reason is the willingness of big investors to make the market rise.
