- Summary:
- S&P 500 futures turn in the green after a steep sell-off last night as Iranian missiles attack a U.S. army base in Iraq. Markets after the attack
S&P 500 futures turn in the green after a steep sell-off last night as Iranian missiles attack a U.S. army base in Iraq. Markets after the attack had started to recover slowly the steep losses and now traders await the President’s Trump statement on Iran for the clues on if and how the USA respond.
Traders will focus today on the U.S. ADP Nonfarm Employment Change due at 13:15GMT. Nasdaq futures are 0.19% higher at 8,870. The Dow Jones futures are 0.06% lower at 28,503, while the S&P 500 futures are 0.17% higher at 3,241. Earlier the United States MBA Mortgage Applications increased to 13.5% on December 27, the previous reading was at -5.3%.
European Indices Turn Green
European indices turn positive midday recovering losses that hit 1% in the first minutes of the trading session. The DAX Index is 0.18% higher at 13,253. The CAC 40 is 0.11% higher at 6,018 while the FTSE MIB adds 0.26% at 23,784. In London the FTSE 100 is 0.01% higher at 7,574.
In the economic data today we had the European Monetary Union Services Sentiment registered at 11.4, topping forecasts of 9.5 in December. European Monetary Union Business Climate came in at -0.25 below expectations of -0.16, the Industrial Confidence came in at -9.3, below estimates of -9. The Economic Sentiment Indicator registered at 101.5, beating forecasts of 101.4 for December.
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Asian indices failed to catch the recovery and ended sharply lower. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo finished 1.57% lower at 23,204. The Hang Seng finished 0.83% lower at 28,087, while the Shangai Composite finished 1.22% lower at 3,066. In Singapore the FTSE closed down 0.06% at 3,245.
In crypto markets, bitcoin continues higher for the sixth session in a row adding 1.78% at $8,306. Ethereum gave up earlier gains and now is 0.26% lower at $142.63. The Ripple (XRP) is 0.09% lower at 0.2136.
Crude Oil Turns Negative for the Day
In commodities markets, crude oil turned negative after the initial spike higher. Now the WTI crude oil is 0.30% lower as investors hope that the oil supply will not be disrupted by the escalation in the Middle East. Gold price trades 0.11% higher at 1,574 close to daily lows as the precious metal retreats from the highs at 1,611.