US lawmakers have reached a deal to continue funding the government through December
US stocks closed higher on Wednesday but pares some gains after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell balked at Democrats’ latest proposal. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.7%. Despite yesterday’s gains, all three major indexes registered their first monthly declines since March.
On the data front, the ADP report showed that the private sector added 749,000 jobs in September, up from the revised gains of 481,000 jobs in August and ahead of consensus of a gain of 650,000. Meanwhile, revised second-quarter gross domestic product data showed a decline of 31.4%, compared with an earlier reading of a decline of 31.7%.
In Asia, most of the regional markets were closed for national holidays while trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was suspended because of a problem in the system for relaying market information. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained nearly 1% by the end of the muted session.
European equities and US stock index futures climbed on Thursday driven by hopes for a U.S. stimulus deal after lawmakers have reached a deal to continue funding the government through December. Investor sentiment was also lifted by forecast-beating results from Swedish retailer H&M and French-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics.
Meanwhile, the dollar is mixed on Thursday, with majors trading in limited ranges. EURUSD is still capped by the 20-DMA while holding above the 1.17 handle. The pair retained a modest bullish bias after the Eurozone employment and PPI data came in line with expectations. GBPUSD dipped under the 1.29 handle amid reports that the EU is set to slap legal action against the UK.
Elsewhere, bitcoin is back on the rise after two days of losses but still lacks the bullish momentum to get back above the $11,000 handle on Thursday. At the same time, BTCUSD is holding above the 20-DMA, suggesting downside risks are limited as well.
