Stocks extend post-Fed rally - 15.12.2023

The Dollar weakening has halted today. The live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, ended 0.9% lower on Thursday despite Department of Labor data showing the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits declined more than expected last week to a seasonally adjusted 202,000 for the week.

Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD accelerated their advancing on Thursday as the Bank of England and European Central Bank kept policy unchanged. Both euro and Pound are lower against the dollar currently. USD/JPY slowed its retreating yesterday and AUD/USD slowed its advancing with both the yen and the Australian dollar higher still against the Greenback currently.

US stock indexes futures are higher currently as the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes edged up to 3.945%. The three main stock benchmarks ended higher on Thursday in a range of 0.2% to 0.4% while Census Bureau data showed US retail sales unexpectedly rose in November.

European stock indexes are higher currently after closing up on Thursday led by mining shares. Asian stock indexes futures are advancing today with Japan’s Nikkei leading gains while data showed Japanese manufacturing activity shrank more than expected in early December, whereas service sector activity improved.

Brent is steady currently. The international oil benchmark rose over 3% yesterday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) revised upward its oil demand forecast for next year. The IEA upgraded world oil consumption in 2024 by 130,000 thousand barrels per day from its previous forecast. The agency cited an improvement in the outlook for the U.S. and lower oil prices for lifting its forecast for the global oil demand. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slipped 0.06% but is higher currently. Brent futures slid 0.34% to $74.95 a barrel on Thursday.