S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record closing highs; Turkey’s lira plunges

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched record closing highs on Thursday, November 18, boosted by upbeat corporate earnings news from companies including Nvidia, while Turkey’s lira weakened further after its central bank cut rates.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe was flat, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower. Nvidia’s stock jumped and was among the biggest supports for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq after it beat quarterly estimates and forecast strong fourth-quarter revenue. Macy’s shares shot up 21.2% after it raised its earnings outlook.

On the flip side, Cisco Systems shares fell 5.5%, a day after it forecast current-quarter revenue below expectations due to supply chain shortages and delays. It was the latest in a growing list of US companies citing supply chain problems.

Investors have been concerned over further increases in price pressures. Retail giant Target warned of higher costs earlier this week.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said Thursday that inflation is becoming more broad-based and that expectations for future price increases are rising.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60.1 points, or 0.17%, to 35,870.95, the S&P 500 gained 15.87 points, or 0.34%, to 4,704.54, and the Nasdaq Composite added 72.14 points, or 0.45%, to 15,993.71.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.46% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.03%.

Turkey’s lira shed another 2.83% after its central bank cut rates by 100 basis points to 15%, even in the face of inflation near 20%, sending the Turkish currency hurtling southward.

“The lira remains a punching bag, and further weakness has no end in sight,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.

The lira has lost around 11.5% of its value this month amid President Tayyip Erdogan’s renewed criticism of interest rates and calls for stimulus despite the risks. It was last at 10.909, having earlier hit a record low of 11.30 per dollar.

The dollar edged back from a 16-month high as traders weighed whether the US currency’s recent surge had gone too far.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six rivals, was last down 0.3%.

In the US Treasury market, yields fell after the relative success of a 20-year bond auction on Wednesday, November 17, reduced fears about further rapid yield increases.

Benchmark 10-year notes were last at 1.587%. They have jumped from a low of 1.415% last week and are holding below five-month highs of 1.705% reached on October 21.

Oil prices rose slightly after dropping to six-week lows.

Brent crude settled up 96 cents, or 1.2%, at $81.24 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures closed 65 cents, or 0.8%, higher at $79.01.

US gold futures settled down 0.5% at $1,861.4. – Rappler.com