The stock markets in the United States rallied driven by several factors such as the increase of oil prices and weakening of the U.S. dollar.
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The markets also benefited from the report that Greece would receive infusion of bailout money next week if the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras can submit a package of adequate reform measures.
The U.S. dollar index declined against the euro, and it is headed towards is largest weekly decline in more than three years. The dollar index dropped 1.7% today.
Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co. told Reuters, “If the dollar is going to show some weakness here and not take another leg to the upside; that gives the economy more room to grow. And if the Fed is going to remain friendly to the market, as it suggested it would, that will also continue to be a support.”
[drizzle]Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen stated that the central bank will likely remain “highly accommodative” even if they remove the term patient in describing its position in raising interest rates.
Policy makers want to see further improvement in the labor market and feel reasonably confident that the inflation will return to the 2% target over the medium term before starting an interest rate hike.
Meanwhile, the WTI crude oil rose 4% to $45.72 per barrel and the Brent crude oil increased 0.88% to $54.91 per barrel.
The NASDAQ reached an all-time high in 15 years after climbing as much as 5,028.33 points around 3:33 in the afternoon in New York. The index closed 5,026.42 points, up 0.68% on Friday.
In a telephone interview with Bloomberg, Todd Lowenstein of HighMark Capital Management commented, “Nasdaq’s in much better, healthier shape than it was in 2000 in terms of earning power and the quality of the companies it constitutes — biotech is playing a larger role.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 18,127.65 (+0.94%)
- S&P 500- 2,108.06 (+0.90%)
- NASDAQ- 5,026.42 (+0.68%)
- Russell 2000- 1,266.37 (+0.92%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,727.07 (+1.51%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 7,022.51 (+0.86%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 12,039.37 (+1.18%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 19,580.22 (+0.43%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 24,375.24 (-0.38%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,892.57 (+1.38%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Biogen Idec surged almost 10% to $475.98 per share after announcing that the trial results for its experiment drug for Alzheimer’s disease known as BIIB037, or aducanumab were positive. According to the company, the drug reduced the levels of amyloid plaques in the brain associated with Alzheimer’.
Nike gained more than 3% to $101.98 per share after the company reported third quarter earnings that beat the consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts. The company posted adjusted earnings of $0.89 per share compared with the co $0.84 per share consensus estimate.
The shares of Tiffany & Co. dropped almost 4% to $82.93 per share after the company forecasted a 30% earnings decline for the current quarter. The company expects its net sales to drop 10%.
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