Today’s top 5 news
Stay on top of the main 5 market news this Wednesday 01.03.2017
1. Indications of higher interest rates in March propels the dollar to a 7-week high.
The dollar index, which measures the currency’s strength against a weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.4% to 101.72 in the morning trading session in New York. Earlier, it reached 101.79, the strongest level since January 11th.
2. Trump presents few details of his policy in a speech in Congress.
Markets have assimilated US President Donald Trump’s speech in Congress tonight, which has provided few details of his infrastructure spending and tax reform plan.
The president said he was open to reforming the US immigration system and promised considerable tax relief for the middle class, but did not elaborate further.
Some analysts said that Trump’s speech, even without details on economic policies, did look positive after a turbulent month in which he is in office.
3. World markets in rally mode with Trump and Fed in focus
The US futures market indicated a bullish opening on Wednesday morning, as Dow futures headed for the most recent historic high above the 20,900 mark in pre-trading trading.
In Europe, exchanges rose strongly in the mid-morning trading session, with the German DAX at 1.3%.
Earlier in Asia, markets ended the day on a high, with the Shanghai Composite closing up 0.2% while Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.5%.
4. Oil traders await US offer data
The US Energy Information Agency will release its official weekly oil supply report at 10:30 am local time (12:30 pm Brasília time) on Wednesday amid analysts’ expectations of an increase of about 3.1 million of barrels.
Gasoline inventories are expected to be 1.8 million barrels less while distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel, are forecast to decline by 611,000 barrels.
5. Snap should price its long-awaited IPO
Snap Inc, owner of the popular messaging app Snapchat, will price its initial public offering after the US stock exchange closed on Wednesday on the most awaited technology IPO since Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) launched its shares on the stock exchange.
Snap is expected to price 200 million shares on Wednesday night in an initial range of $ 14 to $ 16 per share.
The company expects a valuation of between $ 19.5 billion and $ 22.3 billion in trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the highest valuation of a technology company IPO since Facebook. (NASDAQ: FB) in 2012.