US stock market kicked off the week with a positive note, a follow-up on the gains seen from last Friday as all elven S&P sectors closed in the green. The top performers were battered down value-oriented stocks from the financials and energy sectors where both recorded stellar gains of +2.3%. Technology stocks managed to extend their gains later in the session that rallied the Nasdaq 100 to close at 11364 (+1.9%) and above its 50-day moving average (11240). The S&P 500 rose by +1.6% but closed below its 50-day moving average (3353).
Over to the foreign exchange market; the US dollar retreated against the major currencies to retrace some of its gains seen last week; the US Dollar Index shed -0.3% but remained above a key short-term support at 93.50. In addition, COMEX gold futures rose by +0.8%. Yesterday’s weakness seen in the US dollar was supporting the gains seen in stocks and gold.
The positive feedback loop for risk assets have spilled over into today’s Asian session where most key benchmark Asian stock indices have opened higher at this time of the writing; KOSPI 200 (+0.6%), Hang Seng Index (+0.32%), CSI 200 (+0.7%) while Nikkei 225 is down by -0.5&%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) rose by +0.1% to test a key resistance at 2385, the former range support from 28 May to 10 September 2020. A daily close above 2385 is required for the bulls to gain a foothold in the STI.
No major economic data releases for today while the key event highlight will be the first US presidential debate between Trump and Biden after the close of the US session.
Chart of the day – Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) bulls need to clear above 3344
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