Written by Gary
Opening Market Commentary For 12-20-2013
Gary is off today, and the opening market commentary comes from our syndication partner Investing.com/
U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday, supported by the release of strong U.S. economic growth data, while markets were still digesting recent news the Federal Reserve will begin tapering its stimulus program as soon as next month.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.34%, the S&P 500 index gained 0.31%, while the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 0.37%. Official data showed that U.S. gross domestic product expanded by 4.1% in the third quarter, above initial estimates for 3.6% growth. On Wednesday, the Fed announced that it would reduce its USD85 billion-a-month bond buying program by USD10 billion in January. In his last press conference as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy was continuing to make progress. The U.S. central bank reiterated that interest rates are likely to remain low even after the unemployment rate drops below 6.5%, the threshold at which the Fed has previously said it would start to consider rate increases.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 added 0.21%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.11%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.24%. Data earlier showed that the Gfk German consumer climate index rose to 7.6 in December, the highest level since August 2007, from a reading of 7.4 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged this month. A separate report showed that German producer price inflation fell 0.1% in November, in line with expectations, after a 0.2% decline the previous month.
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Written by Gary
