European Close Market Briefing – 12/10/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

In European Equity Markets Spanish stocks closed fractionally lower Thursday, catching their breath after the prior day’s rally that was sparked by worries abating over Catalonia’s independence push, while Europe’s main equity benchmark also struggled for direction. Spain’s IBEX 35 index fell less than 0.1 percent to finish at 10,275.90. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index closed less than 0.1 percent higher at 390.28. Germany’s DAX 30 index edged up 0.1 percent to finish at 12,982.89 for another record close. Shares in Deutsche Lufthansa AG added 2.3 percent after Bernstein analysts raised their rating for the Germany airline to “outperform” from “market perform,” saying “positive catalysts are mounting.”

In Currency Markets the dollar rose on Thursday after a report showing a rise in U.S. producer prices in September helped shake off some weakness caused by Wednesday’s release of U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes that highlighted policymakers’ more cautious outlook toward inflation.  Sterling was down 0.41 percent at $1.3167. The euro was 0.15 percent lower against the greenback at $1.1839. The euro rose to a more than two-week high of $1.188 earlier in the session after Catalonia stopped short of formally declaring independence from Spain, putting a floor under the common currency. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.14 percent at 93.148.

In Commodities Markets  U.S. crude oil inventories fell last week as refining rates rose, while gasoline posted an unexpected hefty build, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. Crude inventories fell 2.7 million barrels in the week to Oct. 6, slightly more than analysts’ expectations.  U.S. crude oil was down 82 cents to $50.48 a barrel, bouncing off a low of $50.21 reached earlier in the session. Brent crude fell 90 cents to $56.04 a barrel. Crude exports fell to 1.27 million bpd from a record 1.98 million bpd a week earlier. U.S. gold futures climbed 0.7 percent to $1,298 per ounce. Silver lost 0.2 percent to $17.12 an ounce. Platinum was 0.9 percent higher at $935.90 an ounce and palladium jumped 2.4 percent to $983.

In US Equity Markets stocks were largely unchanged late on Thursday morning as a rise in technology stocks helped negate another tumble in media stocks and results from JPMorgan and Citigroup that failed to enthuse. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.04 percent, at 22,862.87, the S&P 500 was down 0.09 percent, at 2,552.93 and the Nasdaq Composite  was down 0.02 percent, at 6,602.20. Six of the 11 major S&P indexes were lower, led by a more than 2 percent fall in the telecom services index due to AT&T’s declines. AT&T lost more than 4 percent after the company said its third-quarter results took a hit from the string of hurricanes and that it lost 90,000 video subscribers in the quarter.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose before the Treasury Department is due to sell new 30-year supply, and after data showed that U.S. producer prices rose in September.  Benchmark 10-year notes were last up 1/32 in price to yield 2.341 percent, up from 2.334 percent before the data. Italy’s 10-year bond yield at one stage fell 7 basis points to 2.10 percent, its lowest level since September 25, before settling at 2.12 percent. Most euro zone bond yields were 1-2 bps lower following the release on Wednesday of marginally dovish minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s last meeting.