Australian market expected to open higher 16/12/19

 

Markets across Asia-Pacific embraced renewed optimism the U.S. and China will clinch a trade deal and helped Australia’s stock benchmark index to a positive finish for the week.  
 

Buoyed by a recovery in shares of the heavily-weighted big banks, the S&P/ASX 200 finished up 0.5% at 6739.7. After a drop of just over 2% last week, it gained 0.5% this week.  

ANZ led the major banks with a jump of 2.0%, helping the financials subindex to a weekly gain of 1.2%. The materials and energy sectors were also up strongly and for the week. Gold miners bucked the trend, as the precious metal retreated.

 

Global stocks capped off a week of strong gains as two key uncertainties weighing on markets edged toward a resolution.  

Major indexes and government bond yields recorded big swings in early trading as investors awaited details on a trade deal between the U.S. and China. Encouraging developments on a truce, along with some clarity on Brexit, spurred an early rally in global stocks.  

The S&P 500 added 0.7% for the week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9%. Both indexes closed at records Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4% for the week, ending 0.1% below its highest-ever level from Nov. 27.  

 

Gold prices settled higher, buoyed by weakness in the dollar and a fall in bond yields, to tally a gain for the week, as traders struggled to sort out details of news that the U.S. and China have agreed to a phase-one trade deal.  

 

 

Oil futures settled higher, with U.S. prices above $60 a barrel for the first time since mid-September.  

 

January West Texas Intermediate oil rose 89 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $60.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, prices rose 1.5%, according to FactSet data.

 

The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others, fell slightly, pressured by a 1.3% rally in the British pound sterling. Sterling rose in the wake of an election victory for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party.  

In Europe, stocks closed higher with the Stoxx Europe 600 up 1.2%.  London stocks closed sharply higher after U.K. Prime Minister Boris  
Johnson won a decisive majority. The FTSE 100 rose 1.1% to 7353.44, giving up some earlier gains, and ended the week 1.6% higher.

Housebuilders, utility companies and U.K.-focused banks rallied and Taylor Wimpey topping the index gainers, up 14.7%, followed by peers Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group.  

The German DAX was up 61.08 points, or 0.46%, on the day and up 116.14 points, or 0.88% this week to 13282.72. The French CAC was up 34.76 points, or 0.59%, on the day and up 47.11 points, or 0.80%, this week to 5919.02.  

 

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.6%, putting the benchmark on pace for one of its best days of the year.  
 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2% and the Shanghai Composite in China rose 1.2%.  

 

Korean stocks ended the session higher as renewed hopes for an imminent U.S.-China trade deal boosted the market. The benchmark Kospi closed 1.5% higher at 2170.25. Car makers and electronic firms led the rise.