Oil Rally, Holiday Retail Push U.S. Stocks Higher: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- A rally in oil and optimism at the mall buoyed U.S. stocks to a record at the traditional start of the American holiday shopping season.

Retailers sought to build on positive earnings as consumers descended on stores looking for “Black Friday” bargains. Meanwhile, West Texas crude reached a two-year high, boosting shares in energy companies. Macy’s Inc., and Amazon.com Inc. were among the S&P 500 Index’s top performers in a shortened post-Thanksgiving session, as were Hess Corp. and Marathon Oil Co.

Stocks in Europe pared earlier gains as the euro headed for a two-month high, while bonds fell as Germany moved closer to ending a political impasse and business confidence in the region’s biggest economy improved. Higher Treasury yields weren’t enough to sustain early gains in the dollar, which headed for a third weekly loss. 

Iron ore climbed to a two-month high, while industrial metals headed for the best weekly gain in six. Crude rose as OPEC and Russia were said to have agreed on a framework to extend supply cuts.

Germany’s biggest opposition party said it’s open to talks on backing a government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, offering a way to restore political stability to Europe’s biggest economy. A jump in German business confidence in October added to positive sentiment, with global stocks heading into the final weeks of 2017 at record highs as investors place their faith in economic growth and an earnings’ expansion.

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Here are some key events scheduled for the remainder of the week:

• November preliminary U.S. Markit manufacturing and services PMIs.
• South Africa faces credit-rating reviews from Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings.
• Colombia’s central bank announces its policy decision, with analysts in a Bloomberg survey divided on whether it’s set to maintain rates at 5 percent or cut by 25 basis points.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 Index gained 0.21 percent Friday.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1 percent. 
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index declined 0.1 percent. 
• Germany’s DAX Index jumped 0.4 percent. 
• The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.1 percent. 

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.2 percent to the lowest in eight weeks. 
• The euro increased 0.7 percent to $1.1931, the strongest in two months. 
• The British pound rose 0.2 percent to $1.3331, the strongest in eight weeks. 
• The Japanese yen decreased 0.3 percent to 111.56 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased two basis points to 2.34 percent. 
• Germany’s 10-year yield gained one basis point to 0.36 percent. 
• Britain’s 10-year yield gained less than one basis point to 1.25 percent.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude increased 1.6 percent to $58.95 a barrel, the highest in more than two years. 
• Gold declined 0.2 percent to $1,288.59 an ounce. 
• Copper rose 0.6 percent to $7,002 a ton, hitting the highest in a month.

Asia

• The Topix index rose 0.2 at the close in Tokyo, bouncing from a drop of 0.6 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was up 0.1 percent, reversing a 0.6 percent decline. Both indexes are up over the week, their 10th weekly advance in 11.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index decreased 0.1 percent.
• The Hang Seng Index rose 0.5 percent and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese stocks traded in Hong Kong climbed 1.4 percent after a 1.9 percent slide on Thursday.
• The Shanghai Composite Index was little up 0.1 percent.

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