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U.S. equity index futures gain: Nasdaq 100 up ~2%
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U.S. initial jobless claims 183k vs 200k est
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Q4 unit labor costs prelim < est; Q4 productivity > est
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Euro STOXX 600 index up >1%; ECB, BOE both hike 50 bps
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Dollar, bitcoin rise; gold, crude off
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U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield falls to ~3.35%
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NASDAQ COMPOSITE STRIVES FOR FIVE (0857 EST/1357 GMT)
The Nasdaq Composite has kicked off 2023 in fine
form. The tech-laden index is on track to rise for a
fifth-straight week.
The IXIC last rose five-weeks in a row in November 2021, and
six-weeks in a row in January 2020. And with e-mini Nasdaq 100
futures trading up more than 1.5% in premarket on
Thursday, in the wake of Meta Platforms quarterly
report, the Composite appears poised for a further boost at the
open.
That said, with tech titans Apple , Amazon.com and Alphabet due to report quarterly numbers
after the close, and January payroll data due Friday, there
certainly is potential for volatility into the week's close.
In any event, the Composite's stance on the charts continues
to improve. The index has now closed back over its 200-day
moving average in three of the past four sessions. Adding to
this, on Wednesday, the Nasdaq daily advance/decline line ended above its 200-DMA for the first time since July
23, 2021.
On the weekly chart, the IXIC, which ended Wednesday at
11,816, faces its next hurdle at the descending 55-week moving
average (WMA), a Fibonacci-based moving average, which now
resides just shy of 12,000:
The mid-September high was at 12,270.
The descending 40-WMA and the rising 200-WMA are now
providing support in the 11,400-11,450 area. The 50% retracement
of the March 2020-November 2021 advance is at 11,421.
The IXIC hit a low of 11,388.544 on Monday before snapping
higher.
(Terence Gabriel)
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(Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst. The views
expressed are his own)
