Advanced Search

Share Coverage



Category: Stockmarket / Business, Economics and Finance / Company News / Markets / Currency / Futures

Wall Street gains on banks, technology as investors shrug off Italy change

Tuesday, 6 Dec 2016 06:33:11 | Sue Lannin

Wall Street gained ground overnight, shrugging off Italian voters' rejection of constitutional reform. (Reuters: Tony Gentile)

US investors have shrugged off Italy's rejection of constitutional changes with Wall Street gaining ground on banks, energy and technology stocks.

Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi will step down after voters defeated his plans to overhaul the Italian constitution. The reforms would have made it easier to pass laws in Italy.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Index was driven by banks and energy stocks as oil prices rose to their highest level since July 2015 as optimism about OPEC's decision to cut production continued.

Brent crude oil rose above $US55 a barrel before paring its gains, while the Nasdaq was boosted by strength in the technology sector.

Market snapshot at 8:55am (AEDT)

  • ASX SPI 200 futures +0.9pc to 5,448
  • AUD: 74.70 US cents, 69.40 euro cents, 58.69 British pence, 85.03 Japanese yen, $NZ1.046
  • US: Dow Jones +0.2pc at 19,216, S&P500 +0.6pc at 2,205, NASDAQ +1 pc at 5,309
  • Europe: FTSE +0.2pc at 6,747, DAX +1.6pc at 10,685, Eurostoxx +1pc at 327
  • Commodities: Brent oil -0.4pc at $US54.22/barrel, spot gold -0.6pc at $US1,170.20/ounce, iron ore +1.1pc at $US78.62/tonne

Meanwhile, more data showed signs of strength in the US economy with the US services industry expanding to the highest level in a year amid a rise in production increasing employment.

St Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard said the policies of US president elect Donald Trump may have some impact, "if they are directed towards improved medium term US productivity growth".

"These policies should not be viewed as a counter-cyclical measures," Mr Bullard said, amid the possibility that Mr Trump's policies could stimulate inflation.

He added that a rise in official US interest rates this month looked reasonable.

Most European markets also looked past the Italian referendum results and the prospect of more political instability in Europe.

But Italy's FTSE MIB index fell 0.2 per cent as the country's biggest bank, UniCredit dumped 3 per cent.

The Euro regained ground after plunging to the lowest level in nearly 2 years against the US dollar.

Spot gold dropped to its lowest level in 10 months as investors ignored the Italian referendum result.

Bank of England governor warns wealth needs to be redistributed

Across the pond, Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned that wealth in the UK needed to be redistributed to stave off rising insecurity and anxiety.

Mr Carney said governments had to accept that free trade and technological developments are leaving some people behind.

Mr Carney also said that multinational corporations had to recognise they had responsibilities to their local communities including paying taxes.

"The combination of open markets and technology means that returns in a globalized world amplifies the rewards of the superstar and the lucky," he said in a major speech in Liverpool

"Now may be the time of the famous or fortunate, but what of the frustrated and frightened?"

He compared the social upheaval caused by the 2008 global financial crisis to that caused by the Industrial Revolution when Karl Marx was "warning of a spectre haunting Europe".

"We meet today in the first lost decade since the 1860s. In the wake of a global financial crisis. And in the midst of a technological revolution that is once again changing the nature of work," Mr Carney said.

Mr Carney said governments have relied on monetary policy like lower interest rates to deal with the fallout from the GFC but he said it was time for a "balanced mix of monetary, fiscal and structural policies" to boost growth.

Today's agenda:

Australia:

* ANZ consumer confidence (9:30am AEDT)

* Current account/net exports Q3 (11:30am AEDT)

* RBA rates decision (2:30pm AEDT)

Europe

* GDP Q3 (9:00pm AEDT)

US

* Trade balance (12:30am Wednesday AEDT)

* Unit labour costs (12:30am Wednesday AEDT)

* Non-farm productivity (12:30am Wednesday AEDT)

AustraliaPlus


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend