Overview: US markets bullish with the Dow Jones industrial average rallying 1.5% to eclipse 10,000 for the first time in more than a year, driven by better than expected quarterly reports from PC chipmaker Intel (NYSE: INTC) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM). S&P 500 index was up 1.8%, while the Nasdaq composite added 1.5%.
Asian markets also were in an upbeat mood with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbing 0.89% in early trade today, while Japan’s Nikkei tacked on 1,8% to close at three week highs. Chinese stocks added 0.25%.
The surge on Wall Street is expected to give a boost to the FTSE 100, which is set to open higher today. The blue chips will still be riding momentum from the positive start of the corporate reporting season and yesterday’s UK jobless report, which showed a slowdown in the increase of the rate of unemployment in the country.
Miners and energy stocks are expected to benefit from another round of increases in oil and metals prices.
Oil continued rising with November Brent Crude reaching US$73.5/barrel, while US light, sweet crude for November delivery was just 14 cents short of US$76/barrel.
Precious metals also were on the rise. Gold reached US$1,064/oz, while Silver was 6 short of US$18/oz. Platinum held steady at US$1,359/oz.
Base metals also inched higher with Copper improving to US$2.82/pound, while Nickel rose to US$8.30/pound. Zinc was at US$0.91/pound.
Third quarter reporting is set to continue today with Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Google (NYSE: GOOG) and AMD (NYSE: AMD) scheduled to release their results.
US CPI (consumer prices index) September update is also due today.
Morning news wrap
In the FTSE 100, miner Xstrata (LSE: XTA) said it did not intend to make an offer for Anglo American (LSE: AAL) after its first approach was rejected. The company also announced board approval of US$293 million investment to increase the life of its Lomas Bayas mine in Chile by eight years.
Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) released a drilling update this morning, saying the Mahogany-4 appraisal well offshore Ghana successfully encountered 43 metres of net pay and the South Grand Lahou-1 well encountered the targeted reservoir sands on prognosis but found them water-bearing at that location.
Beverage group SABMiller (LSE: SAB) said that lager volumes in the first six months declined 1% year on year, while soft drink volumes were 1% ahead.
In the AIM, Zimbabwe-focused investment company LonZim (AIM: LZM) said its current market capitalization stood at a 62% discount to the acquisition cost for the portfolio of LonZim businesses.