Global stocks nudge
higher after final U.S. presidential debate
Send a link to a friend
[October 20, 2016]
By Patrick Graham
LONDON
(Reuters) - Stock markets inched higher but the Mexican peso was mixed
after the third and final U.S. presidential debate, which was judged to
have given no clear boost to Donald Trump's hopes of winning the White
House.
The peso is seen as the chief proxy for market pricing of the Republican
candidate's chances in view of his promises to impose tough limits on
immigration. It climbed to a six-week high against the dollar in the
immediate aftermath of the debate but was down on the day in European
trade.
A win for Democrat Hillary Clinton next month - now predicted clearly by
polls - is also seen as opening the way for a rise in interest rates,
which a number of U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers have all but
promised for December.
The peso lost 0.3 percent in morning trade in Europe to 18.567 per
dollar. Against a basket of currencies used to measure its broader
strength, the dollar was up just under 0.1 percent, close to seven-month
highs hit earlier this week.
"The likelihood of Donald Trump becoming president has nose-dived
recently to as low as a one in eight probability ... (and) last night’s
debate has not provided that game-changing moment," said Lee Hardman, a
currency strategist with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in London.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Oct/20/images/ads/current/atlanta_bank_sda_SHI_2016.png)
"The reduction in the political risk premium has helped the U.S. dollar
to strengthen broadly this month."
New York Fed President William Dudley overnight gave one of the clearest
signals yet that the world's largest economy is ready to take another
step away from the ultra-low interest rates that have prevailed since
the 2008 financial crash.
He said the Fed would move this year if the economy remains on track.
Markets now price in a roughly 70 percent chance of a Fed hike in
December.
ECB EYED
The European Central Bank, as expected, changed nothing in policy at its
own meeting on Thursday. President Mario Draghi's post-meeting news
conference (1230 GMT) will be eyed for confirmation that the bank may
extend its bond-buying next year but also for more signs of reticence
among policymakers about keeping interest rates endlessly in negative
territory.
Among the best news for stocks this week has been a series of upbeat
results for U.S. banks, driven chiefly by bond, commodity and currency
trading, and the European banking index outperformed the main indexes on
Thursday.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/102016pics/busine40.jpg)
A man stands next to an electronic board showing stock prices in
Tokyo, Japan, August 18, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Oct/20/images/ads/current/Symphony_lda_091814.png)
France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX were around 0.2 percent higher in morning
trade. Britain's FTSE 100 dipped by around 0.1 percent, but the bank index was
up by 0.8 percent.
U.S. stock markets were also set to open marginally higher.
Earlier, Asian stock markets had advanced, propelled by strong U.S. earnings and
oil prices that are near a 15-month high. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan rose 0.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei extended its gains to 1.1
percent as the yen weakened.
China's CSI 300 was also up 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index
climbed 0.6 percent.
With
70 companies in the S&P 500 having reported earnings through Wednesday morning,
80 percent have topped expectations. Third quarter earnings are now expected to
increase 0.5 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, which would be the
first quarter of growth in five.
Energy shares also contributed to the gains on Wall Street but U.S. crude was
down 1.4 percent to $50.88 a barrel on Thursday, after surging 2.6 percent to
close at $51.60 the previous session. Brent crude also fell back to $51.92,
after climbing 1.9 percent on Wednesday. [O/R]
"We have quiet commodity markets as the oil price advance pauses, quiet bond
markets amid a lack of direction from U.S. data, and stronger Asian equity
markets," analysts from French bank Societe Generale said in a morning note.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Oct/20/images/ads/current/Lincoln-Heating-sda-HI-2015.png)
"(That hasn't) translated into FX strength around the region, but has helped the
yen drift a little lower."
(Editing by Alison Williams)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |