Top 5 Things to Know in the Market

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Investing.Com - How Were Top Five Things You Wanted To Find Out These Financial Markets, Jan 15:

Global Stock Rally Lucas Momentum    Global stock markets were mixed, as the strong rally began to start the year signs of slowing.

 Most major indexes in Asia closed, but Chinese bonds and equities stumbled after the government gave new steps on banking oversight in a "tough" fight on financial risks.

Among notable standouts, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index hit its highest intraday level since 2007, before falling into negative territory in the last hour of trade.

In Europe, the majority of the continent's bourses went to a sluggish start, following two weeks of gain, with cyclical stocks among the largest decliners.

Shares in some competitors of the British construction firm Carillion rose after the long-struggle company collapsed, with banks refused to pay any more money.

Meanwhile, US Stock futures rose between 0.3% -and-0.5%, although the Wall Street will be closed for the Martin Luther King Day holiday. All three major U.S. stock indexes closed at record highs on Friday, after some of the major financial companies in the U.S. reported strong quarterly results

Bank of Japan Haruhiko Kuroda gave a positive view on the economy and inflation, and added the expectations that the BOJ could be expected back from stimulus earlier than expected.

The euro climbed 0.7% to a three-year peak of 1.2283, building a 1.4% rally from last week, when minutes from the European Central Bank's December meeting suggested a potential hawkish shift in policy.

3. Metals Power High Thanks to Weak Dollar

Prices of precious and base metals started the week on the front-foot, rising across the board thanks to a potent combination of a bit dollar and continued robust outlook for demand.

Among precious metals, gold futures advanced to a four-month high, palladium traded at an all-time high, with silver and platinum rising.

Meanwhile, copper jumped into the most in two months and the zinc hit a fresh decade-high. Aluminum, nickel and lead also surged.

A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities cheap for buyers in other currencies.

4. Oil Dips Away From 2014 Highs on Rising US Rig Count

Crude prices have fallen from their strongest level since 2014, as the market weighed rising US drilling activity against ongoing efforts by major producers to cut output to a global glut.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures dipped 0.2% to $ 64.17 per barrel, while Brent futures shed 0.4% to $ 69.62 per barrel.

The number of oil drilling rigs is 10 to 752 in the week to Jan. 5, data from General Electric (NYSE: GE) showed Baker Hughes energy services unit, the first increase to drilling numbers in five weeks.

Analysts and traders have recently warned that US Shale oil producers could produce the next week in the ramp up production as they look at the higher prices of profit, potentially rising supply of OPEC-led efforts to supplement additional supply.

5. Bitcoin Gains, Ethereum & Ripple Push Low in Rangebound Trade

The prices of major cryptocurrencies were mixed, with Bitcoin inching higher, while the Ethereum and Ripple pushed in relatively quiet rangeebound trade

Bitcoin was up to 2% at $ 13,765. That pushed its market capitalization up to $ 232 billion.

Ethereum, the world's second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was down 1% at $ 1,321. It hit a lifetime-high of $ 1,423.20 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Ripple's XRP token was trading at $ 1.806, down to 3% for the day.

2018 has not started well for cryptocurrencies, with last week marking the second week in a row of poor performances.