U.S Stocks climb: Dollar Edge Higher in May Day Trading
NEW YORK (Reuters) - US stocks gained on Friday after two straight
sessions of losses on the recovery of health and technology stocks,
while the dollar rose to nine-week lows on signs that the US economy has
stabilized after a recent soft patch.
The majority of the 10 largest US S & P index were higher, health and tech indices are snapping 2-day losing streaks. Apple shares (NASDAQ: AAPL) was higher and was the biggest driver of the Dow, Nasdaq and S & P 500.
All
major European markets, except London, the biggest, closed Friday for
the May Day holiday, while many Asian markets are closed. The London FTSE 100 index inched positive territory after miners
approached expectations for further stimulus in China, the world's top
metals consumer.
The gains came in weak earnings reports contributed to a loss in the previous two sessions after US equities. The rise came despite data showing that construction spending fell by a
six-month low in March, while the ISM manufacturing data showed growth
was the slowest in almost two years in April.
However, data showing a jump in consumer sentiment was a bright spot in recent economic reports and supported the dollar.
"This
is just a dead cat bounce from yesterday, and to some extent the ISM
data was not terrible," said Josh Strauss, portfolio manager of Chicago
Appleseed Fund. "You do not see a negative impact from abroad, because today is May Day."
The MSCI world equity index was last up 0.65 points, or 0.15 percent, to 436.95.
The last time the Dow Jones industrial average up 146.15 points, or 0.82 percent, to 17,986.67. The S & P 500 up last 15:52 points, or 0.74 percent, to 2,101.03. The Nasdaq Composite was up 40.75 points, or 0.82 percent, to 4,982.17.
The
dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of six major
currencies, rose after posting the worst month in four years in April. The index was last 0.6 percent after hitting 95.166 94.399 nine-week lows on Thursday.
The euro was last down 0.1 percent against the dollar to $ 1.12105
after pressing more than nine-week high against the dollar of $ 1.12900
before the session.
Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields hit a seven-week high of 2.117 percent. Treasury prices, which move inversely yields continued to sell-off, traders readjusted to higher yields worldwide.
Oil
prices eased off highs after Iraq in 2015, he said that crude exports
hit a record in April, while production in the Middle East far exceeds
demand. Brent crude oil was last down 73 cents to $ 66.05 a barrel. US crude was last down 80 cents to $ 58.83 per barrel.
"If the markets do not tighten as quickly as people would expect the
sell-off could be huge," said Amrita Sen, oil analyst at Energy Aspects
leader.
Gold futures last down 0.89 percent at $ 1,171.9 an ounce.
