U.S. stock-index futures were little changed after a five-day rally in equities that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 18,000 for the first time.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures expiring in March added 14 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,990 at 7:17 a.m. in New York. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index contracts rose 0.1 percent to 2,079.90.
Stocks took off last week after the Federal Reserve said it will be patient on the timing of an interest-rate increase. Markets rallied to records yesterday after data showed the world’s largest economy expanded at the fastest pace in more than a decade. U.S. equity markets will close at 1 p.m. for Christmas Eve.
“The computers are trading now after a spectacular week of GDP news for markets,” said Daniel Weston, chief investment officer at Aimed Capital GmbH in Munich. “This week has seen the Dow go above 18,000, which is above and beyond the expectations of most in the face of the geopolitical turmoil we have faced this year.”
U.S. equities faced upheavals in 2014 that threatened to derail a bull market in its sixth year, ranging from violence in the Ukraine to an Ebola outbreak and a bear market in oil prices. Those obstacles were no match against the Fed and the economy. The Dow’s worst retreat was only 7 percent, and the gauge recovered from each decline in about two months. The index climbed 0.4 percent to a record 18,024.17 yesterday.
A report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington is expected to show the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose to 290,000 in the week ended Dec. 20, from 289,000 the prior period. Last month, American employers hired more people than at any time in almost three years and the breadth of industries adding jobs was the broadest since 1998.
Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. added 5.3 percent in early New York trading after slumping 24 percent yesterday. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index retreated yesterday on concerns health insurers and companies that manage patient’s drug benefits will put new pressure on how much the industry can charge for breakthrough treatments.
AbbVie Inc. advanced 1 percent while Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. rose 1.3 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Morgan in Frankfurt at jmorgan157@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net Trista Kelley
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1wFfZoA
0 comments:
Post a Comment