Most equities little changed, dollar keeps bleeding
US stocks erased early losses and closed higher on Wednesday as investors focused on hopes that another round of fiscal stimulus is imminent. Democratic leaders embraced a bipartisan stimulus deal that would include up to $908 billion in funding for various initiatives. Both President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden have said they support another stimulus deal.
On the negative side, the ADP report showed that private payrolls rose by 307,000 in November, the lowest number since July, versus 475,000 expected, compared to the 365,000 added in October. As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2%, the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.1% to 12,349.37, and the S&P 500 gained 0.12%.
In Asia, stocks were mostly higher on Thursday, helped by progress toward rolling out coronavirus vaccines and talk of reaching a compromise on new help for the U.S. economy. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan was barely changed following two straight days of gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged 0.6% higher and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 0.20%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.30% and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia picked up 0.49%. The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.15%.
European equities opened in a mixed mode as global markets paused for breath after the rally, awaiting fresh economic news as well as vaccine and stimulus developments. The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged marginally below the flatline in early trade, with tech stocks leading the gains. US stock index futures were flat as well.
Despite the oversold conditions, the dollar slipped further to start the European session on Thursday, with EURUSD climbing to fresh long-term tops around 1.2140 in recent trading. At the time of writing, the pair was changing hands just below 1.2130, signaling its readiness to extend the rally after a breath. If so, the prices could target the 1.2185 resistance next.
