Americas session: S&P 500 rises 0.30% as confidence data tops forecasts
US stocks and gold rose while the dollar firmed and oil fell as traders awaited Wednesday's Fed decision.
The S&P 500 rose 0.30% to 7723 between 13:30 and 20:05 GMT, with the Nasdaq 100 outperforming at +0.83% to 29651, after US Consumer Confidence jumped to 91.7 in October, well above both the 81.2 forecast and the prior 81.9 reading [C]. The US 10-year yield was little changed, slipping 0.2 basis points to 4.993% [P], as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting, which opened Tuesday with markets pricing a roughly 90% probability of a hold, according to CME’s FedWatch tool [1]. The Fed’s decision is due Wednesday at 1800 GMT, followed by a press conference from Chair Kevin Warsh [1].
In currencies, the dollar firmed broadly: EUR/USD fell 0.19% to 1.1128 and USD/JPY edged up 0.06% to 157.94, both between 13:30 and 21:00 GMT [P]. The Canadian dollar also slipped as investors awaited both the Bank of Canada and Fed rate decisions, Investing.com reported [2].
WTI crude fell 1.05% to $100.20 [P] even as oil markets stayed on edge over Middle East supply risks; OilPrice.com reported more than 30 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waterways in October, up from 14 in September, with Yemen’s Houthis claiming a missile strike on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery [3][4]. Separately, OPEC+ producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia were expected to keep output quotas unchanged for December, sources told Reuters [5]. Gold rose 0.94% to $4073.1 [P], extending its advance as the broader risk and policy backdrop stayed in focus ahead of the Fed.
Sources: [P] Prices: Yahoo Finance 5-minute bars, session open to close; calculated by Praevis; [C] Releases: Praevis economic calendar; [1] Economic Times Markets; [2] Investing.com (forex); [3] OilPrice.com; [4] Investing.com (commodities); [5] OilPrice.com