Stock Market Today: Dow Hits Record, World Markets Surge

Bangkok, Dec 15 (AP) World markets powered higher on Friday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to another record close on excitement that the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates several times next year.

Germany's DAX advanced 0.6 per cent to 16,849.10 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.4 per cent at 7,604.01. Britain's FTSE 100 edged less than 0.1 per cent higher, to 7,650.99.

The futures for the SandP 500 and the Dow were up 0.2 per cent. Oil prices also gained.

Hong Kong led Asia's gains with property developers jumping after some Chinese cities eased buying restrictions.

The Hang Seng surged 2.4 per cent to 16,792.19, but the Shanghai Composite index fell back, losing 0.6 per cent to 2,942.56.

Troubled developer Country Garden's shares jumped 5.1 per cent, while China Evergrande gained 3.5 per cent and Sino Ocean Holding surged 5.7 per cent.

China's National Bureau of Statistics reported that factory output rose 6.6 per cent in November and retail sales were up more than 10 per cent, glimmers of improvement for the economy after the post-COVID recovery faded much more quickly than expected.

However, investments in property weakened further, indicating that the crisis over excessive debt in that industry is far from resolved.

“Our cautious conclusion from all of this is that China's recovery is ongoing. But it still looks narrowly based and vulnerable to any further worsening in the real estate sector,” ING Economics said in a research note.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.9 per cent to 32,970.55 and the Kospi in Seoul added 0.8 per cent to 2,563.56. In Australia, the SandP/ASX 200 advanced 0.9 per cent to 7,442.70.

Bangkok's SET climbed 0.7 per cent and the Sensex in India was up 1 per cent.

On Thursday, the SandP 500 gained 0.3 per cent to pull within 1.6 per cent of its all-time high set early last year. The Dow gained 0.4 per cent and the Nasdaq climbed 0.2 per cent.

Stocks have been broadly shooting higher since October on hopes that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to not only stop its market-rattling hikes to interest rates but to even begin considering cutting them. Those hopes strengthened Wednesday after the Fed held its main interest rate steady and said the federal funds rate is likely at or near its peak.

Lower interest rates can goose prices for investments and relax the pressure on the economy and financial system. But a reversal by the Fed is not guaranteed: One threat is that the economy stays too hot, which would keep upward pressure on inflation and could force it to keep rates high for longer than expected.

A couple of reports Thursday indicated the US economy may be stronger than economists had forecast. One showed American shoppers spent more at retailers in November than October, when economists were forecasting a decline. Another report said fewer US workers applied for jobless benefits last week, a signal of a resilient job market.

In other trading early Friday, US benchmark crude oil gained 22 cents to USD 71.80 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped USD 2 a barrel to USD 71.58 on Thursday.

Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 23 cents to USD 76.84 per barrel.

The US dollar fell to 141.73 Japanese Yen from 141.84 Yen. The Euro fell to USD 1.0964 from USD 1.0997.