TradeTheNews.com Weekly
Market Update: Markets stay within striking distance of all-time highs as 2017
comes to a close
Fri, 29 Dec 2017 16:19 PM EST
S&P futures for good measure once again inched out to an new intra-day high
ahead of the final opening bell on the NYSE. The UK FTSE 100 finished the year
at an all-time high, as well, before US indices drifted marginally lower,
ending the week slightly in the red. In what has been a tough stretch for
Dollar bulls, the Greenback is looking to finish out the year on another sour
note. The Euro approached 1.20, which has led to the 9% decline for the Dollar
Index in 2017, and gold hit a three-month high on the Dollar weakness. WTI
crude ended above the $60 mark heading into 2018, and nat gas moved back
towards $3. US Treasury prices traded flat to marginally higher, with buying in
the belly and short end resulting in modest curve flattening. The benchmark
10-year yield looks poised to finish the year largely unchanged around 2.40%,
with much of the curve holding at some of the flattest levels in a decade. For
the week, the S&P fell 0.3%, the Dow lost 0.1%, and the Nasdaq dropped
0.8%.
During this holiday-shortened corporate news week, a plethora of companies
disclosed how the tax bill would affect their Q4 outlook. Apple weighed on the
NASDAQ early in the week after a report surfaced of potentially slow iPhone X
demand. Potash and Agrium set the closing date for their merger of equals after
receiving clearance from regulators. Adtran slashed its Q4 outlook, noting a
slowdown in spending at a domestic Tier 1 customer. And President Trump on
Friday suggested USPS should charge Amazon “much more” for delivery services.
