US Markets Bounce Back Buoyed By Strong Earnings From Nike And FedEx

• S&P 500 closes up 1.5%
• Asian markets follow suit with Hang Seng up over 2%
• US consumer confidence hits 9 month high
• Brent Crude holds onto this week’s gains
• UK GDP contracts more than expected in third quarter

Strong Earnings From Nike And FedEx

US Stocks posted their biggest rise in 3 weeks on the back of earnings announcements, ahead of expectations from Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) and FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), and a jump in the US Consumer Confidence Index to 108.3. That’s up sharply from 101.4 in November, following back-to-back monthly declines.

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Asian markets also saw an overnight rally in tech shares, which boosted trading in Hong Kong. E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) jumped 4.8% while online services company Tencent Holdings Ltd HKG: 0700 gained 3.9%. Online shopping and food delivery platform Meituan HKG: 3690 picked up 5.7%.

By mid-afternoon, the Hang Seng was up 2.3% at 19,595.69, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.3% to 3,058.71, perhaps held back by continuing concerns over COVID levels.  The FTSE 100 has opened up 0.2%, following a 1.7% rally yesterday.

Brent crude is heading towards $83 per barrel, having risen for the fourth straight session, as an expected surge in travel for the holiday season is threatening to exacerbate tightening US energy supplies. Latest data showed that US crude inventories fell by 5.89 million barrels last week, much more than market forecasts for a 1.66 million barrel drop.

In revised third quarter data out today, the UK Economy was shown to have shrunk by 0.3% against a previous estimate of -0.2pc and weaker than analysts expected.

Statisticians said the revisions reflected bigger falls in manufacturing and production than previously estimated, adding that the reduction "might reflect changes in business and consumer behaviour in response to higher energy prices" after the regulator's energy price cap shot up in April. Revised US GDP data is expected later today as is US weekly unemployment data.

Article by Derren Nathan, Head of Equity Research, Hargreaves Lansdown