US stocks end lower despite energy sector rally

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US stocks ended mostly lower on Wednesday, off early session highs led by energy stocks after OPEC agreed on production cut.

The dollar ended higher on hopes higher oil prices would boost inflation, yielding higher interest rates.

The live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, closed 0.53% higher at 101.509.

The S&P 500 lost 0.3% settling at 2198.81, with only energy, financial and materials stocks finishing higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed 1.98 points higher at 19123.58, led by Goldman Sachs, Chevron and DuPont shares. The Nasdaq dropped 1.1% to 5323.68, dragged by biotech stocks..

US stock indexes ended higher in November.

The Dow added 5.4%, posting its best monthly gain since March. The S&P 500 gained 3.4% and Nasdaq rose 2.6%.

Stocks pared earlier gains after the Beige Book showed no signs of big jump in postelection business activity and the economy was expanding moderately.

The November rally in stock market accelerated on expectations of accelerated growth after the US election as Donald Trump proclaimed he will support tax cuts and infrastructure spending to boost the economy.

In economic news, ADP private employment change in November was much higher than expected, raising expectations for nonfarm payrolls due on Friday.

Today at 14:30 CET Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Claims will be released in US. The tentative outlook is positive. And at 15:45 CET final Manufacturing PMI for November will be released by Markit.

The tentative outlook is neutral. At 16:00 CET ISM Manufacturing PMI for November and Construction Spending for October will be published, the outlook is positive.

And at 16:30 CET Natural Gas Storage Change will be released by the Energy Information Administration.

Energy stocks lead European markets higher

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European stocks continued advancing on Wednesday led by energy stocks lifted by higher oil prices after OPEC reached a deal to cut production.

The euro weakened while the British Pound strengthened against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 ended 0.3% higher, led by 3.4% jump in energy stocks.

Germany’s DAX 30 ended 0.2% higher at 10640.30. France’s CAC 40 outperformed adding 0.6% and UK’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.2% closing at 6783.79.

Shares of oil and oilfield services companies were the biggest gainers: Tullow Oil shares soared 13% and stocks of Italy’s oilfield equipment and services company Saipem jumped 9.6%.

Shares in British bank Royal Bank of Scotland fell 1.4% after it failed the Bank of England’s stress test of seven British lenders and must raise around £2 billion ($2.5 billion) in capital.

In other economic news, the headline inflation in euro-zone rose to 0.6% in November, the highest since April 2014.

But the inflation is still well below the European Central Bank’s target of just under 2%, and investors will watch whether the ECB will extend its bond buying program set to expire in March. Policy makers will meet on December 8.

Today November Nationwide House Prices came in lower than expected in UK. And the October unemployment rate in euro-zone will be released at 11:00 CET, the outlook is neutral for euro.

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Higher oil and positive Chinese data lift Asian markets

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Asian stocks are rebounding today as energy stocks rallied on surge in oil prices.

Nikkei rose 1.1% to 18513.12, the highest closing since December led by mining and exporter stocks, lifted by weaker yen.

Chinese stocks are advancing as China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 51.7 from October’s 51.2, with the official nonmanufacturing PMI also posting a gain.

The Shanghai Composite Index is up 0.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is 0.4% higher.

Australia’s All Ordinaries Index gained 1% while the Australian dollar edged higher against the dollar.

Oil jumps on OPEC output-cut deal

oil-jumps-on-opec-output-cut-deal-ifc-markets Oil futures prices are extending gains today after The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) on Wednesday.

Non-OPEC countries agreed to decrease production by 500000 bpd, with Russia saying it would cut production by 300000 barrels a day.

February Brent crude closed 9.6% higher at $51.84 a barrel on Wednesday on London’s ICE Futures exchange.

The OPEC cut represents about 1% of global crude oil output, which will help to balance the global oil market currently depressed due to a supply glut.

According to the deal, Saudi Arabia is expected to cut the production by 486000 barrels a day, Iraq agreed to reduce output by 20000 barrels a day.

Nigeria and Libya were exempt from the deal while Iran was allowed to increase production slightly above its October output.

The deal is expected to accelerate the rebalance of supply and demand though higher prices are likely to cause more US shale producers to increase production.

The US Energy Information Administration report yesterday showing a 900000 barrels drawdown in domestic crude supplies last week was also bullish for oil prices.