Global equity markets hold gains post Fed inspired rally

By Gautam Broker, Research Analyst at CNBC-TV18

Global equity markets hold gains post Fed inspired rally

Eurozone Finance Ministers met in Cyprus on Friday, which was largely constructive meet (some usual German concerns).

Meeting revolved around a potential bailout request by Spain.

Spain officials post meeting indicated movement towards a request of final decision by PM.

It was an indication of a possible formal announcement on October 8 when Eurozone finance ministers' meet again.

Finance Ministers also discussed Irish bailout terms, banking union and ESM modalities

US economic data was slightly weak on Friday

US Retail sales for August rose 0.9% as against 0.6% in July and consensus of 0.8%.

But retail sales ex-auto’s went up just 0.1% as against 0.8% in July and consensus of 0.4%.

US Industrial production for August declined 1.2% as against rise of 0.5% in July.

CPI headline for August rose 0.6% as against 0% in July. Core was up 0.1%, which was unchanged compared to July.

Consumer confidence for September was better-than-expected at 79.2 as against 74.3 MoM.

US markets at close on Friday: Dow Jones gained 0.4% at 13,593.4 and S&P 500 Index went up 0.4% to 1,465.7 while Nasdaq jumped 0.9%

European markets at close: DAX rallied 1.4% and CAC surged 2.3%. FTSE jumped 1.6%. Spain shot up 2.8% and Italy moved up 2.3%

Today; SGX Nifty climbed 1.1% to 5,648.

Asian markets were mixed. Nikkei market is shut today.

Currencies

Euro hit a high of 1.3169 against the US dollar on Friday

Euro was at 1.312 to the dollar today, down 0.1% from Friday

Dollar index hit a low of 78.6 on Friday, lowest since February. It was at 78.8 today 

Australian dollar hit a high of 1.062 to the US dollar, but profit taking has taken it back to 1.053 against the US dollar

Commodities

CRB Index was at its best level since March.

Crude was up but modest compared to other commodities

Brent crude hit high of USD 117.9 a barrel on Friday before closing at 116.7 a barrel

WTI crude saw USD 100.4 a barrel intraday on Friday before closing at around USD 99 a barrel

LME copper was up 4% and US copper gained 3% on Friday

Most other base metals like Aluminium, lead and Zinc were at 6-month high.

Gold touched a high of USD 1777 an ounce before ending at USD 1771 an ounce.

What to watch out for

Eurozone Current Account, Trade Balances

Eurozone Labour Costs

US Empire State Manufacturing