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Stocks rise in 2023’s first big rally – Oil jumps – Gold hits 8-month peak – US treasuries and the dollar slip – Swiss central bank posts biggest loss in its history – Asia-Pacific markets rise
Marking the first big rally of the new trading year, investor enthusiasm brought gains on Friday to all the major averages, which posted their best week since November.
Continuing the rally on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 118 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 added 0.5%, and the technology-heavy NASDAQ 100 ticked up 0.6%, CNBC reported.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down -0.006 for a yield of 3.565% as of 10:03 AM EST.
The price of oil jumped 3 percent on optimism over increased fuel demand as China reopened its borders while overshadowing global recession concerns that had pushed oil to a drop of more than 8 percent last week, Reuters reported.
The benchmark U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.36, or 3.2%, to $76.13, while Brent crude was up $2.38, or 3.03%, at $80.95 a barrel by 1312 GMT.
Goal prices reached an eight-month high on Monday, while the US dollar slipped as investors bet on slower US interest rate hikes. Gold was also buoyed by top bullion consumer China reopening its borders, CNBC reported. Spot gold rose 0.49% to $1,874.78 per ounce, its highest since May 9, 2022. U.S. gold futures gained 0.53% to $1,879.50. The weaker US dollar is most likely the main factor raising gold prices.
The Swiss central bank expects to post a loss of $143 billion for the 2022 financial year. It would be the biggest loss in its 115-year history, Reuters reported. So far, it has lost 131 billion francs in foreign-currency positions and 1 billion in Swiss Bank positions as the franc gained, and as a result, it will not make its usual payout to the Swiss government and member states, CNBC reported.
As mainland China resumed quarantine-free travel with Hong Kong over the weekend, Asia-Pacific markets traded higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.77%, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.58% to 3,176.08, and the Shenzhen Component rose 0.62% to 11,450.15, while the Kosdaq gained 1.78% to 701.21, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.63% to end its session at 2,350.19, leading gains in the region, CNBC reported.
