Markets unfazed by sluggish US growth

Investors appeared to take in their stride weaker-than-expected growth data in the US Friday, as President Donald Trump’s “America first” policies could point to stronger expansion in the coming months, dealers said.
Wall Street was flat following a disappointing report on fourth-quarter US economic growth and a mixed bag of earnings.
US growth came in at a sluggish 1.9 percent in the quarter ending Dec. 31, well below the 3.5 percent in the third quarter and under analyst expectations. Still, analysts noted the report is backward-looking and that the economic outlook has shifted with the expectation that Trump will pursue pro-growth policies.
“All said, we think that the economy is on track to expand by 2.0-2.25 percent in the first half of the year,” said UniCredit analyst Harm Bandholz.
“Under the assumption that the new administration will pass a fiscal stimulus in time without derailing global trade, growth in the second half of the year will most likely be faster.”
London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler said that overall it had been “a week of celebration in the market since the Dow Jones finally cracked 20,000 for the first time.”
And despite trending fractionally lower on Friday, “the Dow should comfortably finish the week above 20,000,” he added.
European markets saw an underwhelming end to the week, but London was buoyed by a blockbuster takeover by Tesco.
British supermarket group Tesco agreed to buy wholesaler Booker for £3.7 billion ($4.6 billion) in a move to become the nation’s top food business, slash costs and boost growth. On Friday, Tokyo rose 0.3 percent as the dollar held Thursday’s rise against the yen. Sydney ended 0.8 percent higher, Singapore gained 0.4 percent and Hong Kong ended down 0.1 percent after a four-day rally.
Activity was thin heading into the Lunar New Year break, while Shanghai and Seoul were already closed.

Gold slips
Gold fell on Friday and held on track for its first weekly loss of the year as persistent dollar strength prompted some traders to cash in on this week’s rally to two-month highs. 
Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,185.15 an ounce by 1458 GMT, while US gold futures for February delivery were $4.80 an ounce lower at $1,185.00. 
“The dollar is being a big influence on gold right now, so that’s what is behind the current move,” ING analyst Hamza Khan said.

Source: Arab News