(index / closing price / change items /% change)

Nikkei -63.14 20267.05 -0.31%

TOPIX -8.31 1664.43 -0.50%

Hang Seng +129.42 27642.43 +0.47%

CSI 300 +0.42 3821.20 +0.01%

Euro Stoxx 50 +18.79 3555.17 +0.53%

FTSE 100 +27.77 7313.51 +0.38%

DAX +52.21 12657.41 +0.41%

CAC 40 +13.20 5281.96 +0.25%

DJIA +56.39 22340.71 +0.25%

S&P 500 +10.20 2507.04 +0.41%

NASDAQ +73.10 6453.26 +1.15%

S&P/TSX +135.54 15609.66 +0.88%

The major US stock indices rose significantly on Wednesday as US President Donald Trump's administration demanded lower tax rates, but did not provide much detail on how to pay for tax cuts without increasing the federal deficit.

The dynamics of trading also reflected statistical data on the United States. As it became known today, orders for durable goods, or long-lasting goods, such as passenger aircraft, increased sharply in August, and business investment again increased, becoming a good indicator for the US economy. Last month, orders for durable goods rose by 1.7%, the government said on Wednesday. Economists predicted an increase of 1%.

In addition, the Americans signed fewer contracts to buy houses in August, noting the fifth month of decline over the past six years, prompting the industrial group of realtors to cut their sales forecast in 2017. The index of unfinished transactions on sales of housing from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) fell by 2.6% to 106.3. This was the lowest level since January 2016, while the index was 2.6% below its level a year ago.

Prices for Brent crude oil moderately decreased, departing from the highs of 2015. The catalyst for this was the growth of the US dollar rate to the monthly maximum. On the other hand, the cost of WTI crude oil has grown moderately, receiving support from statistics on oil products in the US. The US Energy Ministry reported that last week oil reserves unexpectedly declined amid the recovery of the refinery after the hurricane Harvey. According to the data, the week of September 16-22, oil reserves fell by 1.846 million barrels, to the level of 470.986 barrels. Analysts had expected an increase in inventories of 3.422 million barrels.

Most components of the DOW index recorded a rise (17 out of 30). The leader of growth was shares United Technologies Corporation (UTX, + 2.22%). Outsider were shares of General Electric Company (GE, -2.33%).

Most sectors of the S & P index finished trading in positive territory. The technological sector grew most (+ 1.3%). The utilities sector showed the greatest decrease (-1.1%).

At closing:

DJIA + 0.25% 22.340.92 +56.60

Nasdaq + 1.15% 6,453.26 +73.10

S & P + 0.41% 2,507.08 +10.24

U.S. stock-index futures rose moderately on Wednesday, as investors optimistically awaited details of the Trump administration tax reform plan (19:00 GMT).

Global Stocks:

Nikkei 20,267.05 -63.14 -0.31%

Hang Seng 27,642.43 +129.42 +0.47%

Shanghai 3,345.46 +1.88 +0.06%

S&P/ASX 5,664.28 -6.70 -0.12%

FTSE 7,311.25 +25.51 +0.35%

CAC 5,276.73 +7.97 +0.15%

DAX 12,665.19 +59.99 +0.48%

Crude $51.89 (+0.02%)

Gold $1,290.40 (-0.87%)

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Amazon (AMZN) resumed with a Outperform at Wells Fargo; target $1400

Alphabet A (GOOGL) resumed with a Outperform at Wells Fargo; target $1250

Coca-Cola (KO) target raised to $52 from $50 at HSBC Securities

NIKE (NKE) reported Q1 FY 2018 earnings of $0.57 per share (versus $0.73 in Q1 FY 2017), beating analysts' consensus estimate of $0.48.

The company's quarterly revenues amounted to $9.070 bln (+0.1% y/y), generally in-line with analysts' consensus estimate of $9.085 bln.

NIKE also reaffirmed mid-single digit revenues growth (versus consensus of +4.7% y/y). At the same time, the gross margin is seen to drop 50-100 bps.

NKE fell to $52.00 (-3.17%) in pre-market trading.

European stocks ended mixed on Tuesday as the euro softened a second straight session following Germany's general election on Sunday and as traders got the first opportunity to react to the latest threat of armed conflict in the Korean Peninsula. The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +0.03% ended marginally higher at 384.03, after swinging between small gains and losses throughout the day.

Asian stock indexes were little changed on Wednesday as investors shrugged off comments from Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen about the prospect of higher interest rates. Regional markets reflected Wall Street with the major U.S. indexes finishing essentially flat overnight.

U.S. stock-market indexes relinquished earlier gains to close little changed on Tuesday, with the Dow industrials extending a losing streak to a fourth session. Investors appeared to shrug off comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, who cautioned against moving too slowly on interest rates. Yellen said there is a risk that the labor market could become overheated, causing an inflation problem down the road.