Stocks Open Higher in Final Day of a Bumpy Trading Week
September 20 2019 - 10:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Avantika Chilkoti
-- U.S. stocks advance slightly on the open
-- Crude-oil prices rise
-- Treasury yields steady
Global stocks rose at the end of a week that saw an
interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve and dramatic swings in
crude prices after an attack on production facilities in Saudi
Arabia.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both rose about
0.1% in the first minutes of trading in New York. The tech-heavy
Nasdaq Composite Index also added less than 0.1%.
Earlier, the Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.3% in afternoon trade. In
Asia, the Shanghai Composite and Japan's Nikkei both rose 0.2%.
Indian equities surged after New Delhi unveiled measures to
boost growth, including a large cut in the corporate tax rate for
domestic companies. The benchmark Sensex index was up 5.3%.
Rolls-Royce shares were among the biggest fallers in Europe,
down 2.5% after the British engineering group warned that issues
with its Trent 1000 engines would continue longer than
expected.
Alten, the French engineering and technology consulting firm,
saw its shares rise 5.9% after it reported higher fourth-quarter
revenue.
Shares in Jyske Bank, the Danish lender, rose 5.6% after the
company said it would increase charges for deposits on some
accounts. The move followed a decision by the Danish central bank,
alongside the European Central Bank, to cut key deposit rates
further into negative territory last week.
Brent crude gained to 0.8% to $64.88 per barrel after days of
major price swings. Following an attack on key production
facilities, Saudi Arabia was reaching out to foreign producers to
send crude to its domestic refineries, as part of the country's
efforts to keep exports flowing.
"The price of oil might be capped due to the fundamental
slowdown in growth we see around the world, whether that be Europe
or the world's second-largest economy, China," said Marshall
Stocker, director of country research at Eaton Vance.
In addition to cutting interest rates on Wednesday, the Federal
Reserve said it would consider at its next meeting whether it
should allow its balance sheet to resume growth. The move wouldn't
mark the start of a new bond-buying program as a stimulus measure,
but a return to the normal precrisis practice of letting the Fed's
balance sheet grow in line with the broader economy.
The Fed this week also stepped in to relieve funding pressure in
money markets, after rates on short-term repurchase agreements
briefly jumped to nearly 10%. The central bank pledged to give the
financial system another $75 billion boost on Friday, part of its
efforts to stabilize short-term money markets this week.
The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasurys on Friday edged up to
1.790%, from 1.777% on Thursday. Bond yields and prices move in
opposite directions.
Elsewhere in commodities, gold prices rose 0.1%.
Write to Avantika Chilkoti at Avantika.Chilkoti@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 20, 2019 09:47 ET (13:47 GMT)
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