U.S. Stocks Press Higher

Stocks aren't the only beneficiary of today’s action. Safe-havens are holding firm, led by modest gains in the Japanese yen and Swiss franc.

Written by: Dime Levov • Tuesday, December 17, 2019 • 2 min read

• Last updated: Tuesday, December 17, 2019

With a probable Trump impeachment looming for later this week, U.S. stocks are pushing fresh all-time highs. At the midpoint of the Wall Street trading day, the DJIA DOW (+85), S&P 500 SPX (+5), and NASDAQ (+7) are all trending to the green. The bullish sentiment is a bit surprising given today’s quiet news cycle. However, bidders continue to pile on the late-2019 rally in the hopes of forthcoming gains for early 2020.

On the economic calendar front, housing data from November is leading the charge. It appears as though a relaxed FED monetary policy is tempting developers to become active. The metrics from November are well above seasonal expectations:

Event Actual Projected Previous

Building Permits (Nov.) 1.482M 1.410M 1.461M

Housing Starts (Nov.) 1.365M 1.345M 1.323M

Industrial Production (Nov.) 1.1% 0.8% -0.9%

In addition to solid gains in the U.S. construction industry, Industrial Production (Nov.) came in 2% higher month-over-month. While only a secondary metric, the figure suggests that Q4 GDP 2019 may raise a few eyebrows when released in early 2020. For now, stocks are continuing their march north and are attracting more and more institutional bids.

Stocks Rally, Safe-Havens Firm

It looks like stocks are not the only beneficiary of today’s action. Safe-havens are holding firm, led by modest gains in the Japanese yen and Swiss franc.

Here are two levels to keep an eye on over the next 24 hours:

Resistance(1): Swing High, 109.72
Support(1): Daily SMA, 109.00

Overview: With the U.S. House of Representatives in the process of completing Trump’s impeachment, we may see some near-term action in safe havens. While the odds overwhelmingly favor Trump being impeached, the markets shouldn’t be too surprised when the vent comes to pass.

However, a formal impeachment is a rare thing. It will serve to destabilize U.S. politics until a Senatorial verdict is rendered. In the event we see the House pass articles of impeachment on Wednesday, the USD/JPY and USD/CHF will be in a position to extend today’s early bearish action.