FYI: Stocks climbed Thursday after the European Central Bank unveiled a sweeping stimulus package and trade tensions between the U.S. and China showed signs of easing.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45 points, or 0.17%, , while the S&P 500 increased 0.29.%. Both indexes are within 1% of July’s all-time highs. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.30%.
Investors have been preoccupied in recent weeks with signs of slowing global growth and uncertainty over the long-simmering trade war with China. The Federal Reserve is expected to follow the ECB next week in cutting interest rates to cushion the economy from a global slowdown.
With trade talks due to be held in Washington next month between the U.S. and China, President Trump postponed new tariffs on $250 billion in goods that were due to take effect on Oct. 1 by two weeks, a conciliatory gesture that could point to easing tensions.
In Europe, the ECB cut its key deposit rate and said it would begin €20 billion ($22.04 billion) a month of asset purchases, an action commonly known as quantitative easing, starting Nov. 1.
Investors waiting for action by the Federal Reserve parsed inflation data that was broadly in line with expectations. Core consumer prices, which exclude the volatile categories of food and energy, increased 0.3% for a third consecutive month. Fed officials have worried about inflation staying too low, and the evidence of a pickup in prices could weigh against the case for additional rate cuts.
Meanwhile, the number of weekly U.S. jobless claims fell more than expected in the latest week. The number of claims fell by 15,000 to 204,000, below the 215,000 predicted by a Wall Street Journal survey of economists.
Stocks in Asia got a boost on the tariff delay. The Shanghai Composite and Japan’s Nikkei both closed up 0.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier, slipping 0.3%.
The offshore yuan was up 0.6% against the U.S. dollar. The yuan’s relative weakness has been a source of tension between the countries in recent weeks, with the U.S. accusing China of currency manipulation after a sharp depreciation in the yuan.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.780%, from 1.733% Wednesday. Bond prices fall as yields rise.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-12/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-set-to-mark-longest-win-streak-in-a-year-after-trumps-gesture-of-goodwill-to-china-2019-09-12/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-rise-ahead-of-ecb-decision-11568275743Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-11/asia-stocks-to-track-u-s-gains-treasuries-steady-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-extends-win-streak-stocks-pare-gains/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/stock-market-wall-street-in-focus-amid-rising-trade-hopes-central-bank-meetings.htmlReuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-street-gets-boost-from-easing-trade-concerns-euro-zone-stimulus-idUSKCN1VX1C5U.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/tariff-delay-morrisons-help-ftse-100-stay-afloat-idUKKCN1VX0MNEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/ecb-stimulus-draws-tepid-response-from-european-stocks-banks-end-flat-idUSKCN1VX0MFAsia:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/asia-markets-sept-12-ecb-us-china-tariffs-currencies.htmlBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/bonds-treasury-yields-rise-ahead-of-ecb-decision.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/euro-slides-after-ecb-cuts-deposit-rate-and-relaunches-qe.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/oil-markets-us-china-trade-war-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/gold-markets-us-china-trade-war-equities-in-focus.htmlWSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/usMajor ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitorSPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-trackerSPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectorsCurrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
