May 17th Morning Report

Friday 17th May 2024

US markets closed lower, with the Dow reached an intra-day high for the first time on Thursday, but it ended lower after paring earlier gains, as investor hopes of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve were buoyed by data showing inflation slowdown, as well as strong corporate earnings results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.10%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down 0.21% and 0.26% respectively.

Other key markets ended higher. European stocks closed as follows: the FTSE100 (+0.21%), the Dax 30 (+0.82%), CAC 40 (+0.17%) and the STOXX (+0.41%). In Asia, the Hang Seng and Shanghai indices closed higher. The key Asian indices ended yesterday as follows: Nikkei 225(+0.08%), HSI (-0.22%) and the Shanghai Composite (-0.82%).

The yield on the US 10 - year note was at 4.377%, while the 2 - year note was at 4.795%. Oil was up to $79.33 per barrel, up 0.89%. The gold price was at US$2381.00 per ounce, down 0.58%.