US stocks end higher

Priya sundarajan Updated - January 15, 2018 at 09:56 PM.

Oil rallies on OPEC deal bets

Oil prices jumped nearly 6 per cent on Tuesday on bets OPEC members will agree to cut output when they meet later this month, while stocks rose, led by recently lagging technology shares.

Crude oil gains in post-settlement trade gave an extra boost to energy-sector shares, further lifting stock indexes on Wall Street.

The US dollar index held above the 100 level and touched a fresh 11-month high, while Treasuries prices were little changed with yields near multi-month highs.

The S&P 500 rose, led by recent decliners, including Apple , Microsoft and Amazon. Tech stocks had sold off in favor of cyclical sectors with lower valuations on the expectation of a spike in spending under the incoming Donald Trump administration.

“Buyers who were waiting to buy technology stocks didn't have an option but to get involved and continue buying the strength. That's propelled them higher as the day went on,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.

The energy sector on the S&P posted its largest daily gain since late September as the rally in crude futures accelerated.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 54.37 points, or 0.29 percent, to 18,923.06, the S&P 500 gained 16.19 points, or 0.75 percent, to 2,180.39 and the Nasdaq Composite added 57.23 points, or 1.1 percent, to 5,275.62.

Emerging market stocks rose 0.3 percent after having fallen 7 percent over the previous four sessions.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended up 0.31 percent, while MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.5 percent.

OIL JUMPS, GREENBACK PAUSES

Oil producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are to meet on Nov. 30 and discuss output limits, and hopes for a deal to cut production boosted prices. An outline deal was reached in September but negotiations on the details are proving difficult, officials say.

U.S. crude was up 5.6 percent at $45.75 a barrel and Brent last traded at $46.94, up 5.7 percent on the day.

Commerzbank analysts said in a note that the market was seeing increased chances of an OPEC production cut.

“There were a lot of new speculative shorts in the market because of the growing skepticism that they would be able to clinch a deal,” said Andrew Lebow, senior partner at Commodity Research Group in Darien, Connecticut. But he noted that those shorts got squeezed as a deal seemed more likely.

Copper, which rallied nearly 20 percent over the three weeks to Friday, fell 0.6 percent to $5,525.00 a tonne.

The dollar index was in and out of negative territory for much of the day but remained near the 100 level and touched its highest since December.

The greenback had support from data showing U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in October, pointing to sustained economic strength that could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month.

The dollar's recent rally was in step with the surge in U.S. yields as Trump's victory a week ago led traders to pile on bets that he and a Republican-controlled Congress would embark on tax cuts and federal spending to boost the economy.

However, they could be offset by possible restrictions on immigration and trade, which could hurt business activity, analysts say.

“We don't know whether and in what form Trump will follow through on what he campaigned on,” said James Chen, head of research at Gain Capital in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The euro edged down 0.13 percent against the dollar to $1.072, having strengthened as far as $1.0816, while the yen weakened 0.68 percent to 109.15 per dollar.

Benchmark 10-year notes slipped 2/32 in price to yield 2.2295 percent, up from 2.222 percent on Monday.

Spot gold gained 0.6 percent to $1,227.76 an ounce.

Published on November 16, 2016 04:05