European Close Market Briefing – 01/09/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

In European Equity Markets stocks closed higher for a third straight session on Friday, boosted by a news report saying the European Central Bank will likely wait until December to unveil a plan to taper its asset purchases. The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended 0.6 percent higher at 376.14, giving it a 0.6 percent rise for the week. Deutsche Lufthansa AG put on 3.3 percent after Bernstein upgraded the German airline to market perform from underperform. Shares of Airbus SE  rose 1 percent after Bank of America Merrill Lynch lifted the French aerospace giant to neutral from outperform. Vivendi SA rallied 5.2 percent after the French media conglomerate late Thursday confirmed its outlook for the year and reported better-than-forecast core-profit growth.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar edged higher against a basket of major rivals on Friday after U.S. jobs data was seen as sufficiently strong to support the possibility of another interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve this year. The dollar reversed its losses and pushed higher, however, with the euro last down 0.3 percent at $1.1870 after briefly hitting a session high of $1.1979. The dollar was last up 0.3 percent against the yen at 110.30 yen after falling to a session low of 109.57 yen just after the jobs data. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last up 0.2 percent at 92.822 after initially plunging 0.5 percent.

In Commodities Markets oil prices recouped some losses from earlier in the day on Friday to trade relatively flat as some refineries shut by Hurricane Harvey along the U.S. Gulf Coast began to restart, calming fears over fuel shortages.  Brent crude for November was 2 cents higher at $52.88 a barrel. U.S. crude was last 1 cent higher at $47.24 a barrel. The contract rebounded 2.8 percent on Thursday but is heading for a weekly decline of roughly 1.5 percent. Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,320.34 an ounce after reaching $1,328.80, the highest since Nov. 9. Silver was flat at $17.57 an ounce and was on track for a weekly gain of 3 percent. Platinum was up 0.3 percent to $998.40 and palladium was 1.2 percent higher at $944.70.

In US Equity Markets  stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow hitting the 22,000 mark for the first time in more than two weeks, after a tepid August jobs report increased the likelihood of the Federal Reserve holding back on raising interest rates again this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.26 percent, at 22,005.83, the S&P 500 was up 0.24 percent, at 2,477.61. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.07 percent, at 6,433.48. Eight of the 11 major sectors were higher, with the financial index’s 0.81 percent rise leading the advancers. Ford’s shares were up 3 percent, General Motors 3.1 percent and Fiat Chrysler 5.7 percent after better-than-anticipated August sales and as investors bet that damage from Hurricane Harvey would boost demand.

In Bond Markets  U.S. Treasury yields were little changed on Friday, after briefly falling because of confusion over revisions in the jobs report for August. Benchmark 10-year yields fell as low as 2.10 percent after the jobs report before rising back to trade little changed at 2.13 percent. Italian, Spanish and Portuguese bond yields were 2-3 basis points lower on Friday while higher-grade government bonds were flat on the day. German 10-year Bund yields were largely unchanged on Friday at 0.36 percent.