US stocks surge on "substantial" phase one trade deal - 14.10.2019

Dollar weakening continues as FED says will start purchasing Treasury bills

US stocks rebound broadened on Friday after president Trump said US reached a "substantial" phase one trade deal with China including Chinese promises to buy $40 - $50 billion more US agricultural products in exchange for eliminating a planned increase in tariffs that had been set to go into effect October 15. The S&P 500 gained 1.4% to 2952.01, rebounding 0.6% for the week. Dow Jones industrial advanced 1.2% to 26816.59. The Nasdaq rose 1.3% to 8057.04. The dollar weakening continued at steady pace as Federal Reserve revealed plans to purchase $60 billion of short-term Treasury debt each month: 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, fell 0.4% to 98.29 but is higher currently. Stock index futures point to lower openings today.

European indexes rally on Brexit deal hopes

European stocks gains accelerated on Friday on market sentiment boost as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart announced they had found a possible deal over Britain’s departure from the European Union. Both the EUR/USD and GBP/USD continued their climb Friday with both pairs lower currently. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 2.3%. The DAX 30 rallied 2.9% Friday to 12511.65. France’s CAC 40 rose 1.7% and UK’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.8% to 7247.08.

Shanghai Composite leads Asian Indexes gains

Asian stock indices are solidly higher today after the partial trade deal between the US and China Friday. Stock market in Japan is closed for a holiday with yen resuming its climb against the dollar. China’s markets are rising despite report China's exports slipped again in September: the Shanghai Composite Index is up 1.2% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is 0.8% higher. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index added 0.5% as the Australian dollar paired its Friday gain against the greenback.

Brent down

Brent futures prices are edging lower today. Prices rose on Friday despite Baker Hughes report the number of active US oil rigs rose by 2 to 712 last week: Brent for December settlement ended 2.4% higher at $60.51 a barrel Friday, posting 3.7% gain for the week.