Global Stocks Broadly Higher, While Dollar Strengthens
May 24 2016 - 10:08AM
Dow Jones News
By Riva Gold
Global stocks climbed Tuesday, while the dollar strengthened
against the euro and yen.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 108 points, or 0.6%, to
17601 shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5%
and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%.
The Stoxx Europe 600 reversed early losses to rise 1.6%.
Eurozone finance ministers were meeting Tuesday to discuss
options for Greek debt relief, after the country's parliament
approved taxes and austerity measures over the weekend needed to
unlock further rescue loans.
"For once, there's good news on Greece," said Mike Bell, global
market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, noting investor
sentiment was lifted by hopes that Greece will receive relief
before major debts fall due in July.
Corporate news continued to drive stock moves. Best Buy issued a
soft profit forecast for the current quarter, helping drive shares
down 5.6%.
Toll Brothers, a luxury home builder, on Tuesday reported
better-than-expected profit and revenue in its second quarter. "We
continue to believe the drivers are in place to sustain the current
housing market's slow but steady growth," said Robert I. Toll,
executive chairman. Shares of Toll Brothers rose 4%. New home sales
for April are due later this morning.
In currencies, the euro slipped 0.5% against the dollar to
$1.1154. German economic growth accelerated at the start of the
year, data showed Tuesday, but a separate report from German think
tank ZEW showed financial analysts grew more pessimistic about the
country's economic outlook.
The dollar rose 0.5% against the yen to Yen109.82. Japan's
finance minister said Tuesday that the country has no plans to
weaken the yen to try to boost exports, following weeks of market
speculation.
The British pound rose 0.9% against the dollar to $1.4610 after
an opinion poll pointed to a lower chance of the U.K. voting to
leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum.
"The pound has had a little jump for joy on fact that Brexit
risk is reducing, but sterling could fall quite a bit more if
Britain left [the EU]," Mr. Bell said.
Tuesday's moves came on the heels of a lackluster close for Wall
Street. Trading volumes were the second-lowest this year, following
weeks of listless trade.
"Retail investors are pretty much on the sidelines," said
Stephen Kalayjian, strategist at KnowVera. "There's clear
uncertainty here and no reason to jump in the markets when you have
lackluster corporate earnings and you see gross domestic product
numbers as weak as they are, " he said.
Later this week, investors will focus on a speech from Federal
Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Friday as they struggle to parse
the central bank's next move.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said Monday he could
"easily" see the U.S. central bank raising rates two to three times
this year, possibly as soon as June.
Shares in Asia mostly ended lower as oil prices fell and
investors continued to grapple with the prospect of higher U.S.
interest rates.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.9%, while the Shanghai
Composite Index fell 0.8%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added
0.1%.
U.S. crude oil added 0.2% to $48.15 a barrel. Gold fell 1.2% to
$1,236.50 an ounce.
Ian Talley contributed to this article
Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 24, 2016 09:53 ET (13:53 GMT)
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