While you were sleeping: Oil rally continues

Wednesday 4th February 2015

Equities on both sides of the Atlantic advanced with oil prices and optimism about the potential for a debt agreement between the European Union and the new anti-austerity government of Greece.

In afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.99 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.66 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.21 percent.

Gains in shares of Caterpillar and those of Chevron, up 2.9 percent and 2.7 percent respectively, led the Dow higher. Shares of Exxon Mobil also increased 2.3 percent.

Oil rose for a fourth straight day. Brent has strengthened more than 20 percent from the lowest level in nearly six years it hit three weeks ago.

“The fact that oil is stabilising takes some of the edge off the argument that the global economy is really in trouble,” Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee based RW Baird & Co, told Bloomberg Business.

Even so, the drop in oil prices also fuelled better than expected sales for US car makers. Shares of General Motors gained, last 2.8 percent stronger, after posting an 18 percent increase in sales in January.

“Consumers feel very good because more people are working, the US economy is expanding and fuel prices are low,” Kurt McNeil, US vice president of sales operations at General Motors, said in a statement. “Consumer and commercial demand for trucks and crossovers is really driving our business.”

Meanwhile, shares of Office Depot soared, last up 18.2 percent, after the Wall Street Journal reported the company is in advanced merger talks with Staples. Shares of Staples recently traded 8.1 percent higher.

A Commerce Department report showed new orders for manufactured goods dropped a larger than expected 3.4 percent in December, after a 1.7 percent decrease in November. The report failed to deter optimism about the US economic outlook

Indeed, US Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis President James Bullard said that when central bankers meet next month, they should drop their declaration to remain “patient” on raising interest rates.

“I would take it out to provide optionality for the following meeting after that,” Bullard said, responding to questions after a speech in Newark, Delaware, Bloomberg Business reported. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to do anything. To have this kind of patient language is probably a little too strong given the way I see the data.”

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the session with an increase of 0.8 percent from the previous close amid optimism about a new debt agreement for Greece. Germany’s DAX Index added 0.6 percent, France’s CAC 40 Index rose 1.1 percent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 Index climbed 1.3 percent.

Bank shares rallied in Greece, pacing the Athens benchmark ATG 11.3 percent higher, its biggest one day advance since 2011. The banking sector index surged more than 17 percent.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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