Daily summary: US Stocks rise on renewed stimulus hopes

European indices finished today's session mostly lower as investors digested mixed PMI data while awaiting any development on Brexit negotiations.  DAX 30 dropped 0.4% and the CAC 40 and IBEX 35 fell less than 0.2% while both the FTSE 100 and FTSE MIB finished slightly higher. Markit PMI data showed EU private sector economy shrinked for the first time in five months due to new restrictions introduced to contain the spread of the pandemic.  On the Brexit front, Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said that there was a good chance that Britain and the EU could reach a post-Brexit trade agreement in the next few days.

 

US indices are trading higher, with both S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit new all-time highs as investors welcomed an upbeat claims report, while remaining focused on progress on a stimulus deal talks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for talks and said the $908 billion bipartisan stimulus plan proposed earlier in the week could be the basis for the discussion. Also Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said there was some positive movement in congressional efforts to reach a compromise on a new coronavirus aid bill but gave no hints on when such a deal could be struck. President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday announced that Brian Deese, currently the head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, will be the director of the National Economic Council. Meanwhile, today's data showed the number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits fell last week, but remained above 700K and the ISM non-manufacturing PMI came only slightly below analysts’ expectations. On the coronavirus front, more than 100,000 US patients are currently hospitalized, which is significantly above the peak during the first wave, according to data from the Covid Tracking Project. US also reported a record number of 2,833 fatalities yesterday, the highest single-day death toll since the pandemic began, according to data from Worldometers.

 

US crude futures are trading nearly 1% higher at $ 45.70 a barrel, while Brent contract rose more than 1% to $ 48.78 despite the fact that OPEC+ agreed to raise their production by 500,000 barrels a day in January, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing comments from people familiar with the matter. That would be followed by further output hikes in subsequent months, the report said. Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.3% to $ 1,837.00 / oz, while silver fell 0.4% to $ 24.00/oz.