Equities
Global markets rallied, driven by news of aggressive economic stimulus from China that raised investor optimism that more measures would follow what was already announced this week.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher as Micron’s upbeat forecast revived the frenzy around artificial intelligence, while investors assessed a softer-than-expected weekly jobless claims report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.47 per cent to 42,113.42, the S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent to 5,762.22, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.36 per cent to 18,327.34 at the bell.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened 0.28 per cent higher at 23,972.76, lifted by mining stocks.
In Canada, investors are getting results from BlackBerry Ltd.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Accenture PLC and Costco Wholesale Corp.
“This stimulus package endorsed by today’s Politburo meeting represents a strategic shift in macro policy, from piecemeal policies to a highly orchestrated package in a more balanced and co-ordinated manner,” said Bruce Pang, chief economist for Greater China at Jones Lang LaSalle.
He added that as the readout said there were new situations and issues, it “suggested time is tight and the task is urgent.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 1.21 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.28 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 1.42 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 1.94 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.79 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 4.16 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices slumped, reversing earlier gains, on news Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, will give up on its price target in preparation for raising output.
Brent crude futures were down 3.1 per cent to US$71.20 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.3 per cent to US$67.38 a barrel.
“The news overnight of a potential return of Libyan supply, coupled with today’s announcement of a lowered Saudi price target due to an expected increase in supply, has taken the wind out of the crude oil market’s sails following the boost provided by [the Chinese central bank’s] easing measures announced earlier this week,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG.
In other commodities, spot gold climbed 0.4 per cent at US$2,668.05 an ounce, and U.S. gold futures were up 0.2 per cent to US$2,691.20.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 74.05 US cents to 74.31 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.04 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, edged down 0.04 per cent to 100.87.
The euro gained 0.16 per cent to US$1.1152. The British pound advanced 0.3 per cent to US$1.3367.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 3.789 per cent.
Other corporate news
Accenture has unveiled a US$4-billion share buyback, closing the fourth quarter with better-than-expected results thanks to strong demand for its services that help businesses adopt generative AI technology.
Economic news
Japan machine tool orders
Germany consumer confidence
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s payroll survey for June.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian wholesale trade for August.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of Sept. 21, which dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 218,000. That compares with an estimated 225,000, up 6,000 from the previous week.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. real GDP and price index for Q2. The American economy expanded at an 3-per-cent annual pace from April through June, boosted by strong consumer spending and business investment, and beating the 2.9 per cent estimates.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. durable orders for August. Consensus is a decline of 2.7 per cent from July with core orders rising 0.1 per cent.
(9:20 a.m. ET) U.S. Fed chair Jerome Powell gives opening remarks at Treasury Conference.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. pending home sales for August.
With Reuters and Associated Press