Today's stock update: Market shows fluctuations while US market claims growth

European markets completely fall down However, Asian market growth flow depends on various stock

American Market 

  • NASDAQ (Dec 28) –12,870.00 

Wall Street ended the session in positive territory and the dollar dipped to its lowest in more than two years on Wednesday, the penultimate trading day in a remarkable year of pandemic, recession and recovery.

All three major U.S. stock indexes gained modestly, but short of all-time closing highs as recently enacted coronavirus relief and the ongoing rollout of COVID-19 vaccines fed optimism over economic recovery in 2021.

European Market 

  •  FTSE (Dec 28) - 6,555.82
  •  CAC (Dec 28) - 5,599.41
  •  DAX (Dec 28) - 13,718.78

One stock we consider particularly attractive is EXOR (Milan: EXO), the holding company of the Agnelli family. EXOR is a diversified investment holding company, with stakes in Fiat Chrysler, Ferrari and capital goods specialist CNH Industrial, as well 100% ownership of global reinsurer PartnerRe. EXOR trades at a discount to NAV of about 40%. 

We expect this discount to narrow over time and the NAV itself to compound at an attractive rate, the combination of which should drive strong returns. 

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The upcoming merger of Fiat Chrysler with Peugeot-owner PSA will create the world’s fourth-largest car manufacturer, with attractive growth prospects, strong margins and, in Carlos Tavares, an industry-leading CEO likely to capture valuable synergies. 

Similarly, we see upside at CNH where demand for agricultural equipment, as farmers replace old machines, should drive strong profit growth, while a splitting of the company should lead to multiple expansion. PartnerRe, moreover, will benefit as pricing continues to harden. 

 

Asian Market

  •  SGX NIFTY (Dec 31) –13,977.00
  •  NIKKEI 225 (Dec 30) - 27,444.17
  •  STRAITS TIMES (Dec 31) - 2,853.38
  •  SHANGHAI COMPOSITE (Dec 28) - 3,442.79
  •  JAKARTA COMPOSITE (Dec 24) - 5,979.07
  •  SET COMPOSITE (Dec 24) - 1,449.35
  •  KOSPI (Dec 24) - 2,873.47
  •  TAIWAN WEIGHTED (Dec 24) - 14,713.05
  •  HANG SENG (Dec 24) - 27,231.13

Asian shares are set to end a tumultuous 2020 by hovering near record highs on Thursday while riskier currencies cruised near 2-1/2-year peaks, buoyed by hopes that COVID-19 vaccine rollouts will help the world beat the pandemic.

The upbeat mood, reflected in overnight gains on Wall Street, drubbed the "safe-haven" dollar and drove currencies such as the euro, sterling, the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar overnight to highs not seen in more than 2-1/2 years.

E-Mini S&P futures rose 0.11% to 3,728.5, while MSCI's gauge of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan was little changed at 661.76, a hair's breath from its record high of 661.80.

For the year, the MSCI index is up nearly 20%, outpacing a 15.5% gain in the U.S. S&P 500.

Australian shares lost 0.23% while the Japanese stock market is shut on Thursday.