Nine out of ten companies on the S&P 500 index have posted earnings that exceeded expectations
Wall Street stocks rebounded overnight, as investors shrugged off coronavirus-related worries to focus on upbeat corporate earnings. Nine out of ten companies on the S&P 500 index have posted earnings that exceeded expectations. As a result, the S&P 500 gained 0.82%, the Dow Jones added 0.80%, and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 0.55%.
Following suit, Asian stocks were also higher on Wednesday, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 bucking the trend to finish 0.21% lower amid the virus-related concerns in Japan. Elsewhere, the Kospi in South Korea advanced 1.34%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added nearly 2%. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.85% and Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.43% higher.
European shares climbed to fresh highs on Wednesday as market players focused on upbeat quarterly earnings. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.5% in its third day of record gains. On the data front, Eurozone’s July final services PMI arrived at 59.8 versus the 60.4 preliminary estimate. In Germany, the index came in at 61.8 versus the 62.2 preliminary figure.
Meanwhile, the euro plunged aggressively in recent trading, digesting weaker PMIs. The EURUSD pair was last seen challenging the 1.1850 area, a break below which would pave the way towards the 20-DMA that arrives at 1.1825. On the upside, the immediate resistance still arrives at 1.1900.
Elsewhere, gold prices turned marginally higher on Wednesday following two days of modest losses. The bullion remains in a tight trading range, struggling for a directional bias these days. The yellow metal bounced from the 20-DMA earlier in the day to register local highs around $1,815. Now, the prices are targeting the 200-DMA that arrives at $1,819 today.