Daily Outlook

Currencies: USDJPY rallied overnight since it is directly correlated with the stock market’s performance. The pair climbed to 102.20 supported by the stock market rally which led to all 3 major US indexes climb to record highs. EURUSD trades in a range while GBPUSD was under pressure between 1.2950 and 1.2975. AUD/USD followed a similar path and fell from 0.77 in the early Asian session to a low of 0.7670. Overall the USD is little changed though as markets and traders are cautious ahead of the important US retail sales report data.

Stocks: Asian stocks closed higher overnight, propelled by the gains seen in Wall Street. DJIA closed up 117.86 pts, or 0.64%, at 18613.52. S&P 500 closed up 10.30 pts, or 0.47%, at 2185.79. Nasdaq closed up 23.82 pts, or 0.46%, at 5228.40. this was the first time since all 3 indices closed at record highs on the same day since 1999. The gains were supported by weekly jobless claims, which pointed to continued low levels of layoffs, while both import and export prices inched up despite a decline in fuel costs, suggesting a possible pickup in inflation.

Oil and Gold: Crude oil prices jumped after a drop the previous day and settled 4.3% at $43.40 as Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid al-Falih said in a statement late on Thursday that oil producers would discuss potential action to stabilize oil prices during a meeting next month in Algeria. Gold on the other hand was under pressure once again, as the rising stock markets attract more funds from investors who had tied funds in the yellow currency.