Daily summary: Global stocks mixed ahead of US tech-earnings

 

European indices finished session in mixed moods after the ECB left its ultra-easy policy unchanged and hinted at more support in December. Meanwhile, investors remained concerned about Europe's recovery as Germany and France announced a second lockdown to curb the spread of the pandemic. German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier noted on Thursday that the country's economy is not likely to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels until 2022. The British government is also under pressure to tighten restrictions with cases doubling every nine days, according to the data from Imperial College London. During today’s session Dax rose 0.32%, CAC 40 fell 0.3% and FTSE 100 finished 0.2% lower.

US indices managed to erase early losses and are trading higher as investors try to shrug off coronavirus concerns and focus on earnings and upbeat economic data. The Dow Jones is trading 0.6% higher, S&P 500 added 1.3% after swinging between gains and losses earlier in the session while the Nasdaq rose more than 1.7%. Shares of Amazon and Apple rose 1.2% and 3.5%, respectively. Alphabet is trading 3% higher and Facebook jumped 5.4%. All four companies will report their quarterly figures after the closing bell. Meanwhile Exxon Mobil Corp is considering reduction of the number of its global employees by 15% and the dismissal of approximately 1,900 US workers as the Covid-19 pandemic hurts oil demand and prices. On the data front, US GDP in Q3 expanded at a 33.1% annualized pace, its fastest growth ever, recovering from 31.4% plunge in the previous quarter. Today's reading came in above analysts' expectations of 31%. Initial jobless claims fell to 751K, below market estimates of 775K. Still, coronavirus continues to weigh on market sentiment as more than 40 states have been reporting a rise in coronavirus cases. The country’s daily average over the past week reached new record high of 74 thousand. White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that if things do not change there is going to be a whole lot of pain in the country with regard to additional cases and hospitalizations, and deaths.

Crude oil futures fell as much as 6% to trade around $35.9 a barrel on Thursday, its lowest level since June 15th, extending previous session’s sharp losses while Brent crude futures erased early gains dropped over 5% to around $37.1 a barrel on Thursday, its lowest level since June 15th as investors worried that new lockdowns will hurt global fuel demand recovery. Gold fell 0.4% and is trading around  1-month low of $1872/oz, while silver dropped 0.4% at $23.32/ oz amid stronger dollar.
USDCHF – yesterday pair broke above the 200 SMA yesterday and upward move is being continued during today’s session. Currently pair is testing local resistance at 0.9165. In case of a break higher, the next resistance to watch lies at 0.9200 level. On the other hand, if sellers manage to halt advances here, the downward move towards 0.9122 is possible. Source: xStation5