asia morning nov 6

On Thursday, U.S. stocks showed no signs of fatigue extending their winning streak to a fourth session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 542 points (+1.95%) to 28390, the S&P 500 rose 67 points (+1.95%) to 3510, and the Nasdaq 100 surged 301 points (+2.56%) to 12078.

Nasdaq 100 Index (Daily Chart) : Bullish Gaps

Sources: GAIN Capital, TradingView


At the same time, investors still faced with uncertainty of the presidential election result.

Automobiles & Components (+5.05%), Materials (+4.05%) and Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (+4.04%) sectors performed the best. Albemarle (ALB +12.92%), Qualcomm (QCOM +12.75%) and Coty Inc (COTY +10.60%) were top gainers.    

Approximately 72% (71% in the prior session) of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average and 49% (51% in the prior session) were trading above their 20-day moving average.

As expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged in a range of 0.00%-0.25%.

U.S. official data showed that initial jobless claims dropped to 751,000 for the week ended October 31 (735,000 expected). Later today, the Labor Department will report the October jobs report (+600,000 nonfarm payrolls, a lower jobless rate at 7.6% expected).

European stocks also remained firm. The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 1.05%, Germany's DAX jumped 1.98%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.24% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.39%.

U.S. Treasury prices were little changed, as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield ticked up to 0.770%.

Spot gold surged $45 (+2.39%) to $1,948 an ounce.

U.S. WTI crude futures (December) declined $0.64 (-1.63%) to $38.51 a barrel. 

The U.S. dollar got sold after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that the economy needs more fiscal and monetary stimulus. The ICE Dollar Index sank 0.94% to 92.53, the lowest level since September 1.

EUR/USD jumped 0.87% to 1.1825. Official data showed that the eurozone's retail sales dropped 2.0% on month in September (-1.5% expected). In Germany, factory orders added 0.5% on month in September (+2.0% expected).

GBP/USD regained the key 1.3000 level as it surged 1.22% to 1.3148. Meanwhile, the Bank of England increased its government bond-buying program by 150 billion pounds, much larger than expected.

USD/JPY lost the 104.00 handle plunging 0.98% to 103.49, the lowest level since March.

Commodity-linked currencies outperformed. AUD/USD gained 1.44% to 0.7283, while USD/CAD shed 0.68% to 1.3045.