Ryan GouldThe S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average led a global stock market rally on Thursday, buoyed by the view that the damage inflicted by the latest trade tariffs imposed by the US and China would be less than feared.
Both the S&P 500 and the Dow hit record highs on the day despite the dollar index dropping to its lowest level for 10 weeks. Emerging market assets also rallied, with the FTSE EM equity index increasing for three consecutive days.
Sterling continued its climb, this time to a 10-week high against the dollar, following the release of the latest UK retail sales data, which was found to be more positive than expected. The pound steadied shortly after, as EU leaders, meeting in Salzburg this week, warned that Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan for Brexit “will not work.”
Oil prices slowly fell following Wednesday’s announcement of a drop in US crude inventories.
Forex
The dollar index was down 0.7% to 93.86, while the euro gained 109 points to hit $1.1782. Sterling rallied to a ten-week high against the greenback as it inched closer to $1.33 before settling at $1.3274 in the evening.
Equities
The S&P 500 beat its previous intraday record high of 2,916.50, finishing the day up 23 points to a record close of 2,930. President Trump touted the record in a tweet earlier on Thursday. The Dow also hit its first record high since January, jumping 252 points to close the day at 26,657. The NASDAQ was positive, gaining 78 points, but remained some 106 points off achieving its own intraday record.
In Frankfurt, the DAX continued its upward trend, rising by 108 points to settle at 12,326.48, while in London, the FTSE 100 was also up 36 points to 7,367.32.
Commodities
Oil prices continued to show signs of running out of steam, as Brent Crude slipped 79 cents to $78.61 a barrel. The US West Texas Intermediate dropped closer to the $70 a barrel mark at $70.14 as President Trump demanded in a tweet that the “OPEC monopoly must get prices down now!”
The softer dollar pushed gold up $2 to $1,205 an ounce.
