On Thursday, US stock markets rose markedly, renewing record highs, helped by the appreciation of shares in the energy sector and an optimistic forecast from US air carrier No 2 in Delta Air Lines.

Oil prices earlier rose to the highest level since early December 2014, supported by tightening world oil reserves, and OPEC members' statement that they will adhere to the terms of the deal to reduce production, despite the increase in Brent quotations to almost $ 70 per barrel. The UAE oil minister and current OPEC president Suhail Al-Mazrui said he expects the market to balance in 2018 and that the group of producers will be committed to a pact to reduce the supply by the end of this year.

Market participants also drew attention to the US data. As it became known, the number of Americans applying for new unemployment benefits rose last week, but remains low, which indicates a strong labor market, which is likely to continue to tighten in 2018. Initial applications for unemployment benefits, a gauge of layoffs across the United States, increased by 11,000 to 261,000, seasonally adjusted for the week ending January 6, the Ministry of Labor said. This was the fourth week of growth of applications. Economists had expected 245,000 new applications last week.

Most components of the DOW index recorded a rise (24 out of 30). The leader of growth was shares of Chevron Corporation (CVX, + 2.98%). Outsider were shares of American Express Company (INTC, -0.59%).

All sectors of the S & P index finished trading in positive territory. The commodities sector grew most (+ 1.7%).

At closing:

DJIA + 0.81% 25.574.73 +205.60

Nasdaq + 0.81% 7.211.78 +58.20

S & P + 0.70% 2.767.56 +19.33

U.S. stock-index futures advanced on Thursday, following the first losses of 2018 recorded by the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq the day before. Investors are now mulling their next moves, while awaiting the fourth quarter earnings season, which will begin tomorrow with releases from financial heavyweights JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).

Global Stocks:

Nikkei 23,710.43 -77.77 -0.33%

Hang Seng 31,120.39 +46.67 +0.15%

Shanghai 3,425.57 +3.74 +0.11%

S&P/ASX 6,067.60 -29.10 -0.48%

FTSE 7,747.23 -1.28 -0.02%

CAC 5,494.59 -10.09 -0.18%

DAX 13,211.92 -69.42 -0.52%

Crude $63.86 (+0.46%)

Gold $1,321.50 (+0.17%)

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

Chevron (CVX) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets

European stocks fell Wednesday, following a five-day rally that pushed the market to its highest level in more than two years. Bucking the trend, shares of banks tracked a rise in U.S. bond yields.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq logged their first decline in 2018 as traders kept an eye on U.S. bonds following an accelerated rise in the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, prompted by a report that China is considering halting purchases of U.S. debt.

Stronger local currencies were giving investors a reason to sell equities across parts of the Asia-Pacific on Thursday, amid recent record and multiyear highs. This was most notable in New Zealand. The benchmark NZX-50 NZ50GR, -1.37% closed down 1.4%, recording its lowest finish in a month and biggest daily drop since March.

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

Nikkei -61.79 23788.20 -0.26%

TOPIX +2.82 1892.11 +0.15%

Hang Seng +62.31 31073.72 +0.20%

CSI 300 +18.51 4207.81 +0.44%

Euro Stoxx 50 -13.04 3609.83 -0.36%

FTSE 100 +17.49 7748.51 +0.23%

DAX -104.25 13281.34 -0.78%

CAC 40 -19.26 5504.68 -0.35%

DJIA -16.67 25369.13 -0.07%

S&P 500 -3.06 2748.23 -0.11%

NASDAQ -10.01 7153.57 -0.14%

S&P/TSX -71.29 16247.95 -0.44%