Market Brief US Indices Set Another Round of Record Highs

Matt Weller
By :  ,  Head of Market Research

Market Brief: US Indices Set Another Round of Record Highs


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*Note that there will not be any Market Briefs published during Christmas Week – we will return to our regular publication schedule in the New Year.*

  • The Bank of England and Bank of Japan made no changes to monetary policy, as widely expected. BOE policymakers voted 7-2 in favor of leaving interest rates and asset purchases unchanged, opting to wait for more clarity on Brexit before tweaking policy. The GBP was the weakest major currency pair on the day.
  • Sweden’s Riksbank raised interest rates 0.25% back to 0%, though this news did little to support the SEK.
  • General risk-on sentiment boosted the AUD to the pole position as today’s strongest major currency.
  • In second-tier US data, both the existing home sales report and initial jobless claims reports came out a tick worse than expected.
  • Commodities: Oil and gold both edged about 0.5% higher on the day. Bitcoin consolidated yesterday’s big bullish reversal.
 
  • US indices closed roughly 0.5% higher to hit another round of record highs, with the S&P 500 cracking 3200 for the first time ever. It was another mixed day for European equities, with Germany’s DAX edging lower while the UK FTSE 100 traded higher on the day.
  • REITs (XLRE) were the strongest major sector on the day; Energy (XLE) brought up the rear.

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