Markit Manufacturing PMI at 12-Month High

News Event

From Trading Economics: The flash IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI for the US increased to 53.2 in October of 2016 from 51.5 in September, beating market expectations of 51.5. It is the highest figure since October last year, boosted by stronger output and new business growth. Manufacturing PMI in the United States averaged 53.62 from 2012 until 2016, reaching an all-time high of 57.90 in August of 2014 and a record low of 50.70 in May of 2016.

Market Snap

Market Closing Wrap

In European Equity Markets stocks ended flat on Monday with continued gains in banks offset by weakness among pharma stocks, while Spain outperformed on signs of an end to a political deadlock. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended flat at 344.26 points. Spanish banks were among the strongest. Spain's IBEX rose 1.3 percent, hitting a six-month high as the country looked set end a 10-month long political deadlock. The STOXX 600 healthcare index fell 0.7 percent. Actelion, down 3 percent, was the biggest faller among drugmakers after brokers cut their price targets, while heavyweights AstraZeneca and Roche fell 2 percent and 0.7 percent respectively.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar hovered near a roughly nine-month high against a basket of major currencies and touched a one-week high against the yen on Monday on growing expectations of a Fed interest rate increase in December. The dollar hit 104.32 yen, during the morning U.S. trading session. The euro was mostly flat against the dollar at $1.0882. The dollar fell against emerging market currencies. Analysts attributed the move to recent opinion polling before the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election, which has favored Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton over Republican Donald Trump. The dollar was last down slightly at 18.56 Mexican peso and had fallen 0.6 percent to 3.13 Brazilian reais.

In Commodities Markets  oil prices fell on Monday after Iraq said it wanted to be exempt from an OPEC production cut, though prices drew some support from a rally in Wall Street shares and a draw in crude inventories at the U.S. storage hub of Cushing, Oklahoma.  Brent was down 60 cents at $51.18 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 62 cents at $50.24. Spot gold was at $1,271.11 an ounce, up 0.4 percent, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery were down $4.30 an ounce at $1,272.00. Silver was up 2 percent at $17.83 an ounce, while platinum was 1.6 percent higher at $944.50 an ounce. Palladium was up 0.2 percent at $625.15.

In US Equity Markets  stocks touched their highest levels in two weeks as a flurry of deal activity and strong quarterly earnings boosted investor confidence. The S&P 500 was up 0.48 percent, at 2,151.48 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.89 percent, at 5,304.04. AT&T fell 1.2 percent after the telecommunications company said it would buy Time Warner Inc for $85.4 billion. Time Warner Inc was down 1.8 percent. TD Ameritrade fell 2.4 percent after it said it would buy privately held Scottrade Financial Services in a deal valued at $4 billion. B/E Aerospace rose 15.4 percent after aircraft component maker Rockwell Collins said it would buy the company in a deal valued at $6.4 billion plus the assumption of $1.9 billion in debt. Rockwell fell 5.7 percent.

In Bond Markets  U.S. Treasury yields lurched higher on Monday, in line with a rise in global bond yields and gains in U.S. stocks, with traders seeing little action ahead of next week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting. In late morning trading, benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were down 8/32 in price to yield 1.770 percent, up from 1.74 percent late on Friday. The yield reached a four-month peak at 1.841 percent early last week. U.S. 30-year bonds fell 24/32 in price to yield 2.530 percent, up from Friday's 2.492 percent. Earlier in the session, 30-year yields hit a more than one-week low of 2.47 percent.

Source: Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management