Morning all
Thanks Shants, Rav and crew
Local shares are poised to go up diddly up at the open today following strength in US healthcare stocks and a 5% jump in the oil price ovvernight.
SPI futures are 22 points higher at 4954
World stock markets stabilized Wednesday following recent selling pressure. Equities markets were buoyed as China got some upbeat economic data Wednesday when the Caixin purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 52.2 in March from 51.2 in February. A reading above 50.0 suggests expansion in the sector. 1
U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday, led by gains in health care and energy, after the release of the Fed meeting minutes.
Buying accelerated into the close, with the Dow Jones industrial average ending about 112 points higher with
Chevron and
Pfizer contributing the most to gains.
The Nasdaq composite outperformed, rising 1.59 percent to its highest close of 2016 as
Amazon.com jumped 2.7 percent and
Apple rose 1.05 percent. The
iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF surged 5.96 percent for its best day since Aug. 9, 2011. The ETF is still 15.5 percent lower year-to-date.
"It's a melt-up of a very oversold sector," said Jeremy Klein, chief market strategist at FBN Securities, noting a combination of short-covering and speculation supporting gains in biotech stocks.
"You got an all-clear on the minutes. Crude has had a monster day. You had a couple days of selling and the trend is still upward," he said
Health care jumped 2.65 percent and energy closed up 2.1 percent, helping the S&P 500 gain 1.05 percent.
"Health care and energy both up, leading the S&P. That's something that hasn't happened in a long, long time," said Marc Chaikin, CEO of Chaikin Analytics. 2
Oil prices rose 5 percent its' biggest advance in three weeks, after the U.S. government reported a surprise draw in domestic crude stockpiles versus market expectations for a new record high.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting indicating no rate hikes in April also weakened the U.S. currency, making dollar-denominated oil more attractive to those holding the euro and other currencies.
After hitting one-month lows a day earlier, oil prices rallied by as much as $2 a barrel after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stockpiles dropped by 4.9 million barrels last week from lower imports and a continued ramp up in refinery runs. 3
"These are constructive numbers and should keep the market from going lower in the near term," said Jeffrey Grossman, crude dealer with New York's BRG Brokerage. 1
Oil $ 37.73 + $1.84
Safe-haven gold prices ended the U.S. day session moderately lower Wednesday. There was less risk aversion in the marketplace on this day, which kept the yellow metal bulls on the defensive. However, gold prices did closed up from their session lows as the key “outside markets” were in a bullish posture for the precious metals markets today—a lower U.S. dollar index and solidly higher crude oil prices. June Comex gold was last $1221 down $9. 1
HUI + .3%
Aud Gold $ 1607
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Aud .7598
Have a good day
1 *****
2 CNBC
3 Reuters
