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Dow Holds 20,000 As Stocks Consolidate Gains

Published 2017-01-26, 08:50 a/m
Updated 2023-07-09, 06:32 a/m

Yesterday's big rally that saw the Dow clear 20,00 and the S&P 500 reach a new alI-time high continued through Asia Pacific trading that saw the Nikkei soar 1.8% and the Hang Seng gain 1.4% heading into the Lunar New Year holiday. As we lap around to European and North American trading markets have flattened out to digest this week's action and await the next round of news. The FTSE is flat while the Dax is up 0.5% and US index futures are up 0.2%.

It's looking to be another big day for earnings reports with Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) headlining the morning round while Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) all report after the close. In Canada, Methanex (TO:MX) posted a huge earnings beat overnight while this morning Potash has disappointed on both earnings and guidance.

In the US, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan outlined the Republican's agenda for Congress, with plans to focus on repealing and replacing parts of Obamacare first, then tax reform by August. Ryan would reportedly prefer to address immigration in the fall but President Trump has been trying to get that addressed sooner.

The timing could be important for markets because the longer it takes Congress to approve infrastructure spending the longer it will take to reach corporate earnings. With infrastructure stocks soaring right now, there is a growing risk that some stocks may be getting caught up in the hype and ahead of their short to medium term prospects.

Brexit remains in focus as well with legislation published today, a white paper due shortly and UK PM May scheduled to meet President Trump tomorrow. UK GDP exceeded expectations with US GDP due Friday.

Currency trading has seen the US dollar rebound a bit, causing other currencies to give back some of their gains. After defying gravity for a day, JPY has been knocked back more than others, with defensive plays still under pressure and gold trading below $1,200 again. Commodities have been relatively steady overnight with Australia closed for a holiday. Natural gas, a more North American commodity, has been most active rallying 2.5% ahead of today's storage report.

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