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Markets Update: U.S. equities advance, indicating potential weekly gains. Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year yield decreases yet remains elevated for the week. European stocks achieve their eighth consecutive weekly rise.
Global Markets Roundup: 13 Feb 2025
Equity Markets
U.S. stocks are rising, poised for weekly gains, while the U.S. 10-year yield decreases yet remains higher for the week. European stocks have marked their 8th consecutive weekly increase. A benchmark of global stocks increased on Friday, with U.S. Treasury yields dropping following soft U.S. data and recent tariff announcements, suggesting the Federal Reserve might have more flexibility to cut interest rates.
The Commerce Department reported a 0.9% drop in retail sales last month, the largest since March 2023, following a revised 0.7% increase in December, significantly below the 0.1% decline forecasted by economists. This indicates that rising prices and tariff uncertainties may be causing consumers to reduce spending. Additionally, the Federal Reserve data showed a 0.1% decline in factory output last month, contrary to the expected 0.1% increase, following a revised 0.5% rebound in December, primarily due to a significant drop in motor vehicle production. On Thursday, President Donald Trump directed his economic team to devise plans for reciprocal tariffs on all countries taxing U.S. imports, increasing the risk of a global trade conflict, yet refrained from imposing further duties.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 remained relatively unchanged, with the energy sector leading gains while healthcare was the worst performer. The benchmark S&P 500 index nearly reached its intraday record of 6128.18 set on January 24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 102.83 points, or 0.23%, to 44,609.64, while the S&P 500 increased by 3.39 points, or 0.05%, to 6,118.43. The Nasdaq Composite rose by 55.15 points, or 0.27%, to 20,000.17.
MSCI’s global stock index rose by 2.17 points, or 0.24%, to 884.52 after reaching an intraday record of 885.66. The index is on track for its fourth weekly gain in five weeks. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down by 0.24% but secured its eighth consecutive week of gains, its longest streak in a year. European stocks have outperformed their U.S. counterparts since the beginning of the year, although it remains uncertain whether this trend will continue.
Currencies
In the foreign exchange market, the dollar index DXY, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.35% to 106.72 after falling to a two-month low of 106.56, with the euro EURUSD up 0.32% at $1.0497. Against the Japanese yen USDJPY, the dollar weakened 0.639% to 152.2 while Sterling GBPUSD strengthened 0.21% to $1.2592 against the greenback.
Commodities
In the commodities markets, oil prices declined, reversing earlier gains, but are on track to end a three-week losing streak. U.S. crude settled at $70.74 per barrel, down 0.77%, while Brent crude closed at $74.74 per barrel, down 0.37% for the day. Gold futures closed another positive week, marking the seventh consecutive week of gains, although front-month gold closed lower today. For the week, gold futures rose by 0.6% to $2,883.60 per troy ounce, offsetting the 1.5% loss posted today.
In the agricultural commodities sector, Arabica coffee futures recently traded around $4.30 per pound, slightly lower than the recent peaks above $4.40, as the market undergoes corrections. March ICE NY cocoa and March ICE London cocoa closed down by -2.14% and -1.91%, respectively. Cocoa prices retreated after an earlier rally driven by concerns over the West African cocoa crop. Conversely, March NY world sugar rose by 1.24%, and May London ICE white sugar increased by 1.53%, continuing this week's upward trend due to worries about Brazil's sugar crop.
Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures surged to their highest price since October, supported by cold weather in the Black Sea and U.S. Plains regions, prompting short covering. The most-active CBOT wheat contract settled up 22-1/4 cents at $6 per bushel. Additionally, the most-active corn contract settled up 2-3/4 cents at $4.96-1/4 per bushel, while CBOT soybeans settled up 6 cents at $10.36 per bushel.
Looking forward refer to the economic calendar below to see the upcoming events scheduled for today and the rest of the week.
General news - Information source from multiple newswires.
The article and the data is for general information use only, not advice!
The Trade Academy Team