CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Tue 7 Jan, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
U.S. Dollar Index, -0.25%, 96.62
USDJPY, +0.41%, $108.42
EURUSD, +0.30%, $1.1195
GBPUSD, +0.72%, $1.3171
USDCAD, -0.21%, $1.2962
AUDUSD, -0.09%, $0.6938
NZDUSD, +0.21%, $0.6668
Rhetoric heated up between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend following Friday’s deadly airstrike, but investors viewed the current geopolitical angst as mostly inconsequential for the economy and the earnings prospects of U.S. companies. Supporting this view was the rebound in stocks, the fade in oil prices ($63.26, +0.23, +0.4%), and the sharp reversal in the CBOE Volatility Index (13.89, -0.13, -0.9%).
U.S. Treasuries finished the session on a lower note, as investors bought the dip in equities. The 2-yr yield increased three basis points to 1.54%, and the 10-yr yield increased two basis points to 1.81%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.25% to 96.62.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, +0.35%, 3,246.28
Nasdaq, +0.56%, 9,071.47
Nikkei Futures, +0.14%, 23,287.5
The S&P 500 communication services sector (+1.2%) was today’s sector leader, largely due to the 2.5% gain in shares of Alphabet (GOOG 1394.21, +33.55) after the stock was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Pivotal Research Group.
Fellow tech giants Facebook (FB 212.60, +3.93, +1.9%), Amazon (AMZN 1902.88, +27.91, +1.5%), and Apple (AAPL 299.80, +2.37, +0.8%) also provided influential support for the broader market.
Conversely, the S&P 500 materials (-0.5%), financials (-0.1%), and industrials (-0.03%) sectors finished with modest losses, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (-1.0%) succumbed to some profit-taking interest.
Separately, shares of Salesforce (CRM 173.45, +7.28, +4.4%) hit a new all-time high after the stock was upgraded to Top Pick from Outperform at RBC Capital Mkts. Shares of CrowdStrike (CRWD 55.11, +4.36, +8.6%) climbed nearly 9% as part of a cyber-security play against possible hacking threats from Iran.