US stock market recovers
US stock indices recovered on Thursday led by technology and industrial shares. The dollar strengthening persisted: the live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, ended 0.2% higher at 93.524. Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3% to 24211.48. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 2636.98. The NASDAQoutperformed gaining 0.5% to 6812.84.
European stocks edge higher
European markets ended marginally higher on Thursday led by telecom and utility shares. The euro extended losses against the dollar while British Pound rose. The Stoxx Europe 600 index added 0.03%. Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.4% to 13045.15. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.2% while UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.4% to 7320.75. Indices opened mixed today.
Chinese trade data support Asian indices
Asian stock indices are higher today on strong Chinese data. Nikkei jumped 1.4% to 22811.08 helped by continued yen weakness against the dollar. Chinese stocks are rising after report exports surged 12.3% percent in November from a year earlier, more than double the forecast, while imports climbed almost 18%: the Shanghai Composite Index is 0.7% higher and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is up 1.2%. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index is up 0.3% with Australian dollar little changed against the greenback.
Oil up on strong China import
Oil futures prices are edging higher today on a report China’s crude oil imports rose to 9.01 million barrels per day in November, the second highest on record. Prices rose yesterday: Brent for February settlement rose 1.6% to end the session at $62.20 a barrel on Thursday.