Strong markets | Calamatta Cuschieri

U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday, with Wall Street starting 2018 on a positive note despite ongoing geopolitical concerns over Iran and North Korea. Gains were broad, with eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors in positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47 points, or 0.2%, to 24,766. The S&P 500 rose 17 points to 2,690, a rise of 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 85 points, or 1.2%, at 6,989. Tuesday represented the biggest one-day percentage gain for the Nasdaq since November 2016.

Meanwhile, The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.2% to close at 388.35, logging a third straight session of losses. The pan-European benchmark slipped 0.1% in Friday’s session, the last of 2017. It still, however, ended the year 7.7% higher, scoring its best annual return since 2013, when it rallied 15%. A rally on the Euro and Pound weighed on the region’s big exporters.

Record-breaking for Airbus

European plane maker Airbus delivered over 700 aircraft in 2017, breaking company records and meeting its core industrial target for the year, industry sources said. Exact figures have been kept under wraps ahead of an announcement on January 15, but the sources said Airbus handed over a record monthly total of jets in December, surpassing the previous monthly peak of 111 seen in the closing weeks of 2016.

Airbus stuck throughout 2017 to an official target of more than 700 deliveries for the year, but abandoned a more ambitious informal goal of more than 720 deliveries in October due to continued delays in engine deliveries for the A320neo family. Airbus officials have said the delays have now eased, following a two-year wrangle with supplier Pratt & Whitney over late engines for the company’s fastest-selling jet.

A good year for Amazon

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday it shipped over 5 billion items worldwide via its subscription based Prime service in 2017 while adding more new members than ever before. The company claimed that its Fire TV Stick and voice controlled smart device Echo Dot were the best-selling products among U.S. Prime members from any manufacturer in any category across all of its product offerings.

Amazon Prime, which offers its users services like free two-day shipping for certain purchases, unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Prime Video, has been attracting more subscribers every year. The e-commerce giant, which revealed its Prime shipment numbers for the first time, did not give comparable full-year shipment number for 2016. Shares of the Seattle, Washington based company were up 1.5% at $1,187 in afternoon trading.

Disclaimer:

This article was issued by Peter Petrov, Junior Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.