February 1st Morning Report

Thursday 1st February 2024

US markets closed lower after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady while hinting that no rate cuts were imminent. As expected, the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) left its key policy rate unchanged at 5.25% - 5.50% against a backdrop of gradually cooling inflation and a resilient economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.10%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down 1.13% and 0.82% respectively.

Other key markets ended lower. European stocks closed as follows: the FTSE100 (-0.47%), the Dax 30 (-0.40%), CAC 40 (-0.27%) and the STOXX (-0.31%). In Asia, the Hang Seng and Shanghai indices closed mixed. The key Asian indices ended yesterday as follows: Nikkei 225(+0.61%), HSI (-1.39%) and the Shanghai Composite (-1.48%).

The yield on the US 10 - year note was at 3.99%, while the 2 - year note was at 4.268%. Oil was up to $76.05 per barrel, up 2.27%. The gold price was at US$2066.60 per ounce, up 0.77%.

Morning Report 1 February 2024

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