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Let's take a look at the global market highlights and news for March 18th 2014.
Markets ignore turmoil in Crimea Oil continues to decline
The Federal Reserve meeting begins later today Let's take a look at today's economics calendar
first Traders will be keeping a close eye on US
building permits and inflation data due today. Otherwise it is a quiet day for economic data.
PAUSE Wall Street gained more than 1 percent on
Monday, rebounding from a steep drop in the previous week as concerns eased over the situation
in Crimea, even as the region voted to join Russia. The 97-percent vote in Crimea in favor
of quitting Ukraine was condemned as illegal by Kiev and the West, with the White House
calling Russian actions "dangerous and destabilizing," though the referendum passed without violence.
The Dow Jones was up 182.59 points at 16,248.26. The S&P500 was up 1.04 percent. The NASDAQ
gained 49.35 points. U.S. economic data helped support equities
and the US dollar. Industrial Production rose 0.6% in February, well above the 0.2% increase
forecast by economists. The Empire State Manufacturing Index rose to 5.6 in March from 4.5 in February,
below forecasts for 6.5, but still a rise. In corporate news, Chinese e-commerce giant
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Sunday it would begin the process towards a U.S. initial
public offering, ending months of speculation. Shares of Yahoo, which has a 24 percent stake
in the company, jumped 3.2 percent to $38.81. Russian stocks traded firmer on Monday, though
came off earlier highs, in the wake of preliminary results of Sunday's referendum that showed
an overwhelmingly positive vote by Crimean's to join Russia. The blue-chip MICEX index
rose 0.3% to 1,244, which was off a 1% gain seen early on Monday. Last week saw the index
close with a 7.4% loss, as tensions rose ahead of the Crimea vote.
Europe's benchmark stock index posted its biggest gain in almost two weeks on Monday
as initial sanctions against Russia weren't as tough as some analysts had feared. Germany's
DAX gained 1.4% at 9,180.89 and France's CAC was 1.3% higher at 4,271.96. The U.K.'s FTSE
100 added 0.6% to 6,568.35 PAUSE
In the foreign exchange market the U.S. Federal Reserve's massive stimulus program has helped
keep a floor under equity prices, and market participants are looking ahead to a two-day
meeting of the Fed's policy-setting committee, which begins today. The Fed is unlikely to
deviate from previously announced policies, but it could use the meeting - the first with
Janet Yellen as chair - to map out its plan for rate rises.
The central bank has said that the first rate rise is likely to come around the middle of
next year, as long as the U.S. economy keeps healing. The dollar fell against the euro
Monday after the U.S. and European Union announced a round of sanctions against Russian officials.
The euro rose to $1.3933. The dollar rose to 101.58 yen. The ICE dollar index a gauge
of the currency's strength fell to 79.326 from 79.406.
PAUSE Moving to the commodities gold prices briefly
hit their highest in six months as appetite for risk remained cautious following Crimea's
vote to break from Ukraine and Western countries' sanctions on Moscow and Kiev officials. European
Union foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions including travel bans and asset
freezes on 21 officials from Russia and Ukraine, Lithuania's foreign minister said.
The price of oil fell only slightly to near $98 a barrel, after Crimea's vote to split
from Ukraine and join Russia, a development already anticipated by investors. Worries
about slowing demand from China, one of the world's top energy consumers, as well as the
availability of plentiful crude supplies on global markets have also contributed to falling
prices in the past several days.
This is Amy Anderson from OptionRally signing off. Follow me on Facebook. And of course
I'm waiting for your LIKE below if you enjoyed today's Market Watch. Have a great day