1. EUR Pairs Recover After Steep Fall
As was widely expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) formally announced the end of its contentious and aggressive quantitative easing (QE) program during its December policy decision on Thursday. However, in his scheduled speech after the monetary announcement, ECB President Mario Draghi took a cautious tone regarding the bank’s future outlook, causing the EUR to tumble against its rivals. Today EUR pairs recovered with the EURNZD adding 0.9 percent, the EURAUD climbed 0.6 percent, while the EURGBP added 0.2 percent as of 8:00 GMT.*
2. General Electric Stock Upgraded, Shares Rally
General Electric soared in late Thursday trading after JPMorgan upgraded it for the first time in 2 1/2 years. GE finished the day 7.3 percent higher at $7.20. It is important to note that JPMorgan has maintained an sell rating on GE stock since mid-2016 and over that time period, General Electric stock has shed more than 75% of its value, falling from north of $31 a share at the end of June 2016 to just a little under $7 on Wednesday Dec 12, 2018. On the opposite side of the spectrum, American Airlines was yesterday’s biggest loser after shedding 5.5 percent to close at $32.46 on Thursday.**
3. Here’s What You Need To Know About Today’s Markets
- Asian shares were on the defensive on Friday as investors kept a wary eye on economic tensions between Washington and Beijing while the euro recovered.
- Apple closed 1.1 percent higher on Thursday on news that the tech giant is splurging on a huge new campus in Austin, Texas.
- Oil prices dipped on Friday after rising over 2 percent the day before
- The Dow 30, Nasdaq and S&P 500 are all set to open near 1 percent lower today
- ADBE closed 1.03 percent higher after a Q4 Earnings Beat
- US Core Retail Sales will all be released at 14:15 GMT. Forecasts point to a 0.2% reading versus a previous 0.7%, a weaker than expected reading could cause USD pairs to tumble.***
You can find and trade all of the above mentioned assets on BDSwiss Forex/CFD platforms.
*Source: Forbes, Dec 14, 2018, 6:25 AM GMT
**Source: Reuters, Dec 14 2018, 4:16 AM GMT
***Source: CNBC, Dec 14, 2018, 3:03 AM ET
