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

Nikkei 225 17,210.05 +390.32 +2.32%

Hang Seng 22,832.21 +246.37 +1.09%

Shanghai Composite 3,057.88 -3.14 -0.10%

FTSE 100 6,466 +129.52 +2.04%

CAC 40 4,249.49 +137.58 +3.35%

Xetra DAX 9,811.06 +266.63 +2.79%

S&P 500 2,061.23 +48.34 +2.40%

NASDAQ Composite 4,748.4 +104.08 +2.24%

Dow Jones 17,778.15 +421.28 +2.43%

Stock indices closed higher on Fed's monetary policy statement. The Federal Reserve released its interest rate decision yesterday. The Fed kept its interest rate unchanged. The central bank changed its guidance language. It said that it will be "patient" before to raise its interest rate.

The Fed Chair Janet Yellen said at the press conference that the Fed's position has not changed despite different views when to raise interest rates. Yellen noted that the Fed was unlikely to hike its interest rates for the "next couple of meetings".

German Ifo business climate index rose to 105.5 in December from 104.7 in October, but missing expectations for a rise to 105.6.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has introduced a negative deposit rate to defend the exchange rate floor unchanged at 1.20 francs per euro. The SNB will charge 0.25% on sight deposits at the central bank. The new deposit rate will be imposed on January, 22.

Indexes on the close:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 6,466 +129.52 +2.04%

DAX 9,811.06 +266.63 +2.79%

CAC 40 4,249.49 +137.58 +3.35%

U.S. stock-index futures rose following its biggest jump in a year after the Federal Reserve said it will be patient on the timing of interest-rate increases.

Global markets:

Nikkei 17,210.05 +390.32 +2.32%

Hang Seng 22,832.21 +246.37 +1.09%

Shanghai Composite 3,057.88 -3.14 -0.10%

FTSE 6,420.01 +83.53 +1.32%

CAC 4,225.07 +113.16 +2.75%

DAX 9,752.07 +207.64 +2.18%

Crude oil $57.73 (-2.59%)

Gold $1206.70 (+1.00%)

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

Upgrades:

FedEx (FDX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman, target $211 (Added to Conviction Buy List)

Downgrades:

Other:

Intel (INTC) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup, target $35

FedEx (FDX) target raised from $155 to $165 at RBC Capital Mkts

European indices continued to climb for a third day after the FED statement to start rising interest rates next year but not in the first quarter and the positive outlook on the U.S. economy and U.S. indices rally. Greek's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras failed to gather enough votes for his nominee in parliamentary vote for president moving the country closer to elections, endangering the austerity policy. Retail Sales in the United Kingdom beat expectations in November with a reading of +1.6% beating expectations of an increase of +0.3%. German IFO Business Climate published earlier in the session was slightly below forecast with a reading of 105.5.

In today's session the FTSE 100 index added +0.94% quoted at 6,395.83 points, France's CAC 40 rose +2.26% trading at 4,205.02. Germany's DAX 30 is currently trading +1.87% at 9,722.52 points.

REUTERS

Swiss franc hits two-year low as SNB cuts rates to negative

(Reuters) - The Swiss franc hit its lowest against the dollar in more than two years, and touched a two-month trough against the euro, on Thursday after the Swiss National Bank said it would introduce negative interest rates.

In a brief statement, the SNB said it would impose an interest rate of -0.25 percent on sight deposit account balances of over 10 million Swiss francs as it seeks to discourage safe-haven buying of francs.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/18/us-markets-forex-idUSKBN0JV04120141218

BLOOMBERG

PBOC Offers Loans to Banks as Money Rate Jumps Most in 11 Months

China's central bank offered short-term loans to commercial lenders as the benchmark money-market rate jumped the most in 11 months.

The amount of money made available by the People's Bank of China wasn't clear, according to people familiar with the matter. Policy makers are adding funds to the financial system to address a cash crunch as subscriptions for the biggest new share sales of the year lock up funds. Twelve initial public offerings from today through Dec. 25 will draw orders of as much as 3 trillion yuan ($483 billion), Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co. estimated.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-18/china-money-rate-climbs-to-nine-month-high-as-ipos-lock-up-funds.html

BLOOMBERG

Greece Fails to Gather Support to Elect New President

Greece moved a step closer to early elections after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras failed to gather enough support for his nominee in a parliamentary vote for a new head of state.

In voting in Athens yesterday, 160 lawmakers in Greece's 300-seat chamber backed Samaras's candidate for the presidency, Stavros Dimas, short of the 200 votes required in the first of three attempts this month. Samaras has 155 lawmakers in his governing coalition and failure to rally enough support for Dimas will lead to the dissolution of parliament.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-17/greece-fails-to-gather-support-to-elect-new-president.html

European indices continued to climb for a third day after the FED statement to start rising interest rates next year but not in the first quarter and the positive outlook on the U.S. economy. Greek's Prime Minister Antonis Samars failed to gather enough votes for his nominee in parliamentary vote for president moving the country closer to elections, endangering the austerity policy. The Swiss National Bank announced that it will impose negative interest rates of 0.25% as of January 22^nd on commercial bank deposits and will keep its minimum exchange rate against the euro at CHF1.20.

German IFO-Business Climate for December was slightly below expectations with a reading of 105.5 compared to104.7 in November. IFO Current Assessment showed a reading of 110.0. Analysts expected 110.3. IFO Expectations rose to 101.1 with a previous reading of 100.9 and foreast of 100.9.

The FTSE 100 index is currently trading +0.54% quoted at 6,370.98 points, Germany's DAX 30 added +1.59% trading at 9,696.65. France's CAC 40 rose by +1.49%, currently trading at 4,173.06 points.

U.S. markets were rallying on Wednesday on an upbeat economic outlook by the FED and Janet Yellen's statement that the bank is going to take a patient approach on hiking benchmark interest rates. The DOW JONES added +1.69% closing at 17,356.87 points, the S&P 500 posted its biggest gains since October 2013, rallying +2.04%, climbing again over 2,000 points with a final quote of 2,012.89. U.S. consumer prices declined by -0.3% from the previous month. Today market participants await the Initial Jobless Claims, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index and the preliminary Services PMI.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added +0.95% to 22,801.15 and recouped some of its losses after correcting for a week. China's Shanghai Composite closed at 3,057.88 points after volatile trading, a loss of -0.10% after reaching new high yesterday.

Japan's Nikkei added the most in 4 weeks trading +2.32% closing at 17,210.05 after the Japanese yen fell against the greenback on the FED's policy to take a "patient" approach to hiking interest rates. Solid gains on the U.S. markets further added to the positive sentiment.