Eurozone Business Growth Rises to 11 Month High

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From Trading Economics: The flash Markit Eurozone Composite PMI increased to 54.1 in November of 2016 from 53.3 in October, beating market expectations of 53.3. It is the highest reading so far this year, as both manufacturing and services expanded faster, boosted by rising order books, employment and backlogs of work while inflationary pressures were the highest for over five years. Composite Pmi in the Euro Area averaged 51.56 Index Points from 2012 until 2016, reaching an all time high of 54.30 Index Points in August of 2015 and a record low of 45.70 Index Points in October of 2012.

Market Opening Wrap

In Asian Equity Markets stocks bounced to one-week highs on Wednesday as investors tried to share in the exuberance of Wall Street's record run, while lofty U.S. bond yields favored the dollar at the expense of emerging market currencies.  With Japan on holiday, Australia's main index led the action in Asia with a rise of 1.35 percent to a one-month top helped by strength in bulk commodity prices. China's blue-chip CSI300 index advanced 0.5 percent to a near 11-month peak as the yuan touched its lowest in six years. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan also added 0.6 percent, edging further away from four-month lows hit on Monday.

In Currency Markets the dollar hovered near a recent 13 1/2-year peak on Wednesday, taking a breather after rising on expectations that U.S. interest rates will rise further than earlier anticipated due to prospects of increased fiscal stimulus under a Trump administration. Against the yen, the dollar eased 0.1 percent to 111.06 yen in holiday-thinned trade, with Japanese markets closed on Wednesday for a public holiday. Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar last stood at 101.05. That was up from Tuesday's low of 100.65 and not too far from Friday's high of 101.48, which was the highest for the dollar index since April 2003. The yuan was trading at 6.8930 on the dollar, flat versus Tuesday's close, and remains close to levels of June, 2008.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell in Asian trade on Wednesday, reversing earlier gains, as doubts re-emerged over whether OPEC would agree to a crude oil production cut at a ministerial meeting next week. International Brent crude oil futures fell 8 cents to $49.04 a barrel after climbing to $49.42 a barrel earlier in Wednesday's session on optimism OPEC would agree to an output cut. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 8 cents to $47.95 a barrel after rising to $48.30 earlier on Wednesday. The euro held steady at $1.0623, having set a near one-year low of $1.0569 last week. Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,214.68 an ounce and silver rose 0.4 percent to $16.70 an ounce.

In US Equity Markets stocks extended their post-U.S. election rally on Tuesday with moderate gains that pushed the Dow above 19,000 and the three major indexes to record closing levels for a second straight day. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.35 percent, to 19,023.87, the S&P 500 gained 0.22 percent, to 2,202.94 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.33 percent, to 5,386.35. Dollar Tree, up 8.2 percent, was the biggest percentage gainer among discretionaries. The dollar-store chain reported a better-then-expected quarterly profit. Medtronic fell 8.7 percent after the medical device maker reported quarterly revenue that missed expectations and cut its full-year adjusted earnings forecast.

In Bond Markets most U.S. Treasuries were steady on Tuesday after the U.S. Treasury Department saw solid demand for its $34 billion sale of five-year notes, the second sale of $88 billion in new supply this week. Benchmark 10-year note yields ended little changed on the day to yield 2.32 percent. Two-year note yields rose as high as 1.107 percent earlier, the highest level since April 2010, before falling back to 1.08 percent. The yields have rose from 0.81 percent before Trump's victory. Five-year note yields were trading just below 11-month highs, at 1.78 percent.

Source: Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management