The US government shutdown occurs not for the first time
On Friday, the US stock market continued to increase. Dow Jones rose, and S&P 500 and Nasdaq updated historic highs. This was contributed by the positive reports for the Q4 of Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM), and Home Depot (NYSE:HD) companies.
The STOXX 600 index updated a 2.5-year high
On Friday, the STOXX Europe 600 index updated a 2.5-year high. Over the past 12 months, it has grown by 10%. This is less than the growth of the US S&P 500 by 24% over the same period.
Asian stocks are rising
The Japanese stock index Nikkei slightly decreased on Monday amid a moderately negative trend in world markets due to the risks of shutdown in the US. Nikkei started 2018 with a gap (price gap) on the chart. Accordingly, its level of 23,000 pips can become a technical support. The exchange rate of the Japanese yen is consolidating a little lower of the level of 111 yen per dollar in anticipation of the next meeting of the Bank of Japan, which will be held early in the morning on Tuesday, January 23. No significant statements and changes in the exchange rate are expected.
Oil prices continue sluggish decline
Brent crude oil prices have been slightly declining for the fifth consecutive day. The aim of the OPEC + was to reduce oil reserves in OECD countries to an average level in five years. The US reserves have already fallen below this average. Market participants do not exclude that the restriction may be canceled in June of the current year. According to the results of the meeting of the OPEC + monitoring committee on Sunday, it was noted that the oil-producing countries would continue to cooperate even after 2018. The active rigs count for drilling oil wells in the US declined by 5 units last week despite expensive oil. Currently, there are 747 units of them compared to 551 units a year earlier. Nevertheless, the US Energy Ministry forecasts an increase in the production of shale oil by 111 thousand barrels per day in February of the current year (the 14th consecutive month).