Financial Markets Update: Stocks Soar Amidst Tech Surge and Dollar Decline

Market Wrap: Stocks, Bonds, Commodities

In Monday's trading session, U.S. stocks started the week on a positive note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 314 points (+0.93%) to 33,984, the S&P 500 climbed 45 points (+1.06%) to 4,373, and the Nasdaq 100 jumped 177 points (+1.18%) to 15,172.

All sectors in the S&P 500 ended higher, with retailing (+2.01%), transportation (+1.61%), and media (+1.50%) leading the gains.

Major tech stocks saw significant increases, with Amazon.com (AMZN) rising by 2.13%, Meta Platforms (META) climbing by 2.05%, Microsoft (MSFT) gaining 1.50%, Nvidia (NVDA) advancing by 1.39%, and Tesla (TSLA) up by 1.12%. However, Apple (AAPL) dipped slightly by 0.07% due to reports of subdued iPhone 15 sales in China.

Lululemon Athletica (LULU) surged by 10.31% and will replace Activision Blizzard (ATVI) in the S&P 500 effective from October 18. Charles Schwab (SCHW) rose by 4.66% after reporting higher-than-expected third-quarter bank deposits. Pfizer (PFE) gained 3.61%, while Moderna (MRNA) fell by 6.47%. Albemarle Corp (ALB) climbed by 2.66% after abandoning its $4.2 billion takeover of Australian miner Liontown Resources.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rebounded by 8.30 basis points to 4.700%. In economic news, the Empire State manufacturing index declined to -4.6 in October (vs -1.1 expected).

European stocks also closed higher, with the DAX 40 rising by 0.34%, the CAC 40 climbing by 0.27%, and the FTSE 100 up by 0.41%.

In the commodities market, oil prices dropped due to growing expectations of eased sanctions on Venezuela's crude exports. U.S. WTI crude futures declined by $0.60 to $87.07 a barrel, while the price of gold retreated by $12 to $1,920 an ounce.

Market Wrap: Forex

The U.S. dollar weakened against major currencies, reflecting investors' belief that the Federal Reserve is done with interest-rate hikes. The dollar index fell to 106.21.

• EUR/USDrose by 50 pips to 1.0560.

• GBP/USDgained 75 pips to 1.2218.

• USD/JPYdipped by 6 pips to 149.51.

• AUD/USDadded 47 pips to 0.6343.

• NZD/USDwas up by 42 pips to 0.5927. New Zealand's data showed that the inflation rate slowed to 5.6% on year in the third quarter (vs 5.8% expected).

• USD/CHFdropped by 18 pips to 0.9002.

• USD/CADdeclined by 48 pips to 1.3612. Canada's data revealed that wholesale sales increased by 2.3% month-on-month in August (vs +0.4% expected).

Bitcoin surged to touch $30,000 following a media report about BlackRock's approval for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, BlackRock denied the report, causing Bitcoin to retreat to $28,598.

Technical Analysis (Intraday):

Dow Jones (CME):Upside momentum prevails. Long positions above 34065.00 with targets at 34300.00 & 34410.00. Below 34065.00, look for further downside with 33940.00 & 33840.00 as targets.

EUR/USD:Bullish bias remains. Long positions above 1.0530 with targets at 1.0565 & 1.0580. Below 1.0530, look for further downside with 1.0515 & 1.0495 as targets.

GBP/USD:Bullish sentiment persists. Long positions above 1.2180 with targets at 1.2230 & 1.2250. Below 1.2180, look for further downside with 1.2160 & 1.2140 as targets.

USD/JPY:Bullish bias above 149.35. Long positions above 149.35 with targets at 149.75 & 149.90. Below 149.35, look for further downside with 149.20 & 149.05 as targets.

(Note: Due to market volatility, key levels and scenarios might have already been reached.)