17 September, 2017
OVERSEAS: The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at a record low but indicated that it could start raising rates sooner than markets have been expecting.
Reports showing an unexpected drop in USA retail sales last month and the first drop in industrial output since January, both in part due to the impact of Hurricane Harvey, were also largely shrugged off by the market.
The S&P 500 also hit record highs by jumping 0.2 per cent to end trading at 2,500.23.
The Dow Jones was up 45 at 22,249 while the S&P 500 was up a couple of points at 2,497. The index's intraday high was recorded at 22,275. The bank is not expected to raise interest rates this month, but Wall Street is wondering if it will do so in December.
ECONOMICS: Industrial production in the U.S. The Federal Reserve says the weather and flooding was responsible for nearly all of the loss. "Control retail sales (excludes sales at food services and drinking places, gasoline stations, building materials and auto stores) which factor directly into GDP fell 0.2% m/m in August, after a strong 0.6% gain in the prior month and are running just 1.3% (annualized) above the Q2 pace", the German bank added. Ex-auto sales had been expected to increase by 0.5%.
"We get everything cheaper than we used to because of the internet and delivery mechanisms", he said.
Among the laggards was Oracle (ORCL.N), which sank 7.67 percent, its worst day in more than four years after disappointing forecasts for its profit and cloud business.
The S&P 500 information technology sector.SPLRCT rose 0.30 percent, powered by an Nvidia-led surge in chipmakers, while Apple rose 1.01 percent in its first gain since unveiling new iPhones on Tuesday. Chipmaker Nvidia jumped $9.56, or 5.6 percent, to $178.96 and hard drive maker Western Digital gained $3.27, or 3.8 percent, to $89.06. Its stock is up 60 percent in 2017.
The Nasdaq is up 68.89 points, or 1.1 percent. Data released Thursday showed US consumer prices rose in August at their fastest pace in seven months, a possible sign inflation is picking up pace. That could happen as soon as November. The company had a trading volume of 1,683,418 shares.
Boeing (BA.N) rose 1.53 percent to a record high after Canaccord Genuity raised its price target for the stock. In many states, the companies collect fees in return for freezing accounts.
Some consumers have chosen to freeze their credit after Equifax said the personal information of 143 million Americans was exposed after a breach of its systems.
The Nasdaq is up 1,045.97 points, or 19.4 percent.
BONDS: Bond prices held steady after two days of losses.
The S&P 500's breach of the 2,500-mark came less than four months after it closed above 2,400, and brought 2017's gain to almost 12 percent. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive and slow down economic growth. Brent crude, used to price global oils, shed 35 cents to $55.12 barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar slid to 110.19 yen from 110.26 yen. The euro jumped to $1.1958 from $1.1914. The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.7 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.1 percent.