Dow Jones poised for a positive start and another record high helped by stronger corporate earnings, and improved sentiment after the phase one deal between China and US. China on the other side has committed to purchase an additional US$200 billion of Chinese products.
On the economic data, the Housing Starts (month over month) came in at 1.608M topping the estimates of 1.375M in December. The U.S. Building Permits (month over month) came in at 1.416M, below the forecasts of 1.468M.
The Dow Jones Industrial futures are 0.24% higher at 29,311. The S&P 500 futures are 0.254% higher at 3,324, while the Nasdaq futures are 0.39% higher at 9,169.
European indices are close to all-time highs. FTSE 100 is 0.97% higher at 7,683 after the weaker retail sales data. Now the focus will be on the Bank Of England policy meeting later in January. The DAX Index is 0.60% higher at 13,509. The CAC 40 is 0.98% higher at 6,098 while the FTSE MIB is 0.79% higher at 24,127.
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Asian indices finished the session higher. The Nikkei 225 ended 0.45% higher at 24,041. The Hang Seng closed up 0.60% higher at 29,056, the Shanghai Composite finished 0.05% higher at 3,075. In Singapore the FTSE Straits Times Index ended 0.01% higher at 3,281. In Australia the ASX 200 hit fresh all-time highs for fourth consecutive day at 7,064.
Cryptocurrencies Hit Two Month Highs
Cryptocurrencies started the session on a positive foot. Bitcoin is 1.37% higher at 8828 but the first attempt at 9,000 failed. Ripple is 1.41% at 0.2320. ETHUSD is 2.38% higher at 168.08. Litecoin is 2.75% higher at 59.08.
In commodities markets, the crude oil price is 0.58% higher at 58.86 while the brent is 0.56% higher at 64.98. Gold price is 0.23% higher at 1,555.
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