- European equities rally for 5th week
- NFP report beat expectations
- Pfizer (PFE.US) stock soar on positive test results for COVID-19 pill
- Gold highest since early September
European indices finished today's session mostly higher, led by advances in travel stocks after a positive update from US drugmaker Pfizer on its pill for Covid-19, amid persistent optimism about earnings season and the latest policy decisions by major central banks. ECB President Lagarde has assured the markets that the bloc's central bank was not predicting a rate hike in 2022. On a weekly basis, European markets secured their fifth straight week of gains, the longest winning streak since April.
Meanwhile, three main Wall Street averages jumped to fresh record highs as investors digested a stronger-than-expected US jobs report, alongside a batch of corporate results. Data showed the US economy added 531 thousand jobs in October, while the unemployment fell to a new pandemic low. However, the NFP report was not the only optimistic news. A major development in the fight against the pandemic boosted shares of Pfizer (PFE.US), which rose more than 11% premarket after the company said its Covid-19 drug, used with an HIV drug, cut the risk of hospitalization by 89%. However later in the session indices gave away part of the early gains.
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Open account Try demo Download mobile app Download mobile appWTI crude futures rose more than 3% to above $81 a barrel on Friday, while Brent added nearly 2.0% and is trading around $82.70 as OPEC+ producers rebuffed a US call to increase output. On Thursday, OPEC+ agreed to stick to the plan of raising oil output by 400,000 barrels per day from December despite pressure from the Biden administration to pump more oil. Still, oil is heading for an over 3% weekly loss. Elsewhere, gold jumped 1.3%, while silver is trading 1.6% higher as demand for non-yielding assets such as precious metals returned, after big central banks showed divergences with market hawks on interest rate and tapering outlooks.
Gold extended yesterday's upward move and is on course for a weekly gain after a succession of central banks this week defied expectations of a hawkish pivot. Price broke above psychological resistance at $1800 which is strengthened by downward trendline. Next target for bulls is located at $1826.53 and is marked with 38.2% Fibonacci retracement and previous price reactions. Source: xStation5
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