From The Trading Floor: Equities are rallying for a second day in a row on the Fed’s pledge to be “patient” on the timing of rate increases
World shares are on the rise today following a vote of confidence from the Fed on Wednesday that the U.S. economy was on track. The Dow and S&P surged yesterday to their strongest percentage gains of the year on the news, following Janet Yellen's comments that an interest rate increase was unlikely for at least the next two FOMC meetings.
Initial claims for the week ending December 13 declined by 3,000 to 289,000. Continuing claims, meanwhile, plummeted by 137,000 for the week ending December 6 to 2.373 million
December Flash Composite PMI fell to 53.8 from 56.1. Services PMI fell to 53.6 vs 56.2 the previous period
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort rose slightly to 41.7
The Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook contracted to 24.5
Oracle reports Q2 EPS 69c, consensus 68c. Reports Q2 revenue $9.6B, consensus $9.52B
Jabil Circuit reports Q1 core EPS 55c, consensus 48c. Reports Q1 revenue $4.55B, consensus $4.34B
President Obama has ordered the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba and the opening of an embassy in Havana in the coming months. The move will ease travel restrictions to Cuba and the eventual lifting of the Cuban embargo.
Vladimir Putin said that the country's current economic difficulties could last for the next two years but the situation could improve faster. Putin also declared that the central bank and government were taking adequate measures to support the ruble and that Russia's current economic situation was caused by external factors, mainly from the price of oil and gas
An early general election in Greece is looking more likely after the first round of a snap presidential election failed to win support for Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s candidate - Stavros Dimas. There is a great possibility that the left-wing, anti-austerity party Syriza could win such a vote – potentially putting the country's international bailout into jeopardy.
Resistance today is at the 2028 / 2031 level with support at 1985 / 1988
