Investing.com – Take a peek at the top 5 things that rocked U.S. markets this week.
Fed members concerned by market rally
The minutes of the Federal Reserve’s Oct. 31 – Nov. 1 meeting showed Fed members raised concerns about the impact on the economy should the trend of rapidly rising asset prices reverse.
“… several participants expressed concerns about a potential buildup of financial imbalances," the minutes stated.
On the monetary policy front, however, the minutes did little to suggest that the widely expected December rate hike was at risk as several officials expected that interest rates will have to be raised in the “near term”.
The dollar fell to a weekly loss, pressured by strong gains in both the euro and sterling.
Dow Jones rebounded from a two-week slump
In what was a shortened week for US stocks amid the Thanksgiving holiday, retailers got a bid, pushing the broader market higher, on expectations that strong seasonal-holiday promotions would boost sales and revenue.
Also supporting the rally was a surge in tech stocks as investors remained optimistic that tax reform would boost economic growth, however, uncertainty that tax reforms would be passed before year-end capped gains.
The dow jones snapped a two-week losing streak to close higher at 23,557.99.
Gold prices ended two-week winning streak
Gold prices struggled to pare losses sustained on Monday, posting a weekly loss for the first time in three weeks amid renewed risk-on sentiment and falling geopolitical uncertainty.
Some analysts, however, warned that gold prices could rebound as the somewhat dovish Federal Reserve minutes lowered expectations for a March rate hike.
According to investing.com’s fed rate monitor tool, 39% of traders expect the Fed to hike rates in March compared to 45% in the previous week.
Gold prices fell to $1,287.83, down 0.33% on Friday.
The euro shrugged off German coalition uncertainty
Political uncertainty swept across Germany on Monday, after talks to form the country's next government collapsed overnight, raising questions about the future leadership of position of Angela Merkel.
The uncertainty surrounding the future leadership position of German chancellor Angela Markel was short-lived, however, as Germany’s Social Democrats said it would consider talks with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic party to form a government.
EUR/USD rose 0.69% to $1.1934 on Friday.
Crude oil prices settled above 2-year highs
Crude oil prices settled above two-year highs on Friday supported by tighter supplies amid ongoing disruption to the Keystone pipeline, while a report suggesting OPEC and Russia agreed on a plan to extend output curbs lifted sentiment.
After days of talks, Moscow and Riyadh now agree they should announce an additional period of cuts at the Nov. 30 meeting, Bloomberg reported, citing people involved in the conversations.
The report of a potential OPEC-Russia agreement on an outline to extend the accord comes amid weeks of uncertainty as to whether Russia would agree to extend output cuts as fears that major oil producers who are not part of the pact will ramp up output to gain market share.
U.S. crude production rose to a weekly record of 9.66 million bpd, the Energy Information Agency said Wednesday.
Crude oil prices for December delivery rose 1.6% to settle at $58.95 on Friday.