New records for markets | Calamatta Cuschieri

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, with major indexes trading at or near records as concerns over the political situation with North Korea appeared to ease. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 hit intraday records in early trading, while the Nasdaq was within a few points of its own

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, with major indexes trading at or near records as concerns over the political situation with North Korea appeared to ease. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 hit intraday records in early trading, while the Nasdaq was within a few points of its own. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 52 points, or 0.2%, to 22,327. The S&P 500 added 3 points, or 0.1%, to 2,504. The Nasdaq Composite added 11 points to 6,458, a rise of 0.1%. Among the day's biggest movers, Orbital ATK Inc. gained 20% after Northrop Grumman Corp agreed to buy it for $7.8 billion in cash.

Monday’s gains also followed advances in European and Asian markets. The Stoxx Europe 600 index picked up 0.3% to 381.98. All sectors were higher, led by the telecommunications and industrial groups. Germany’s DAX 30 index was up 0.2% at 12,549.70, France’s CAC 40 index moved up 0.2% to 5,226.36 and the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% to 7,247. Across the continents, South Korea’s Kospi Index jumped 1.4%.

Bitcoin come-back

Bitcoin has recovered by more than 34 percent and was trading at $3,968.37 per bitcoin Monday morning after the cryptocurrency fell as low as $2,951.15 on Friday, its lowest level since early August. Bitcoin's value lost about 14.7 percent last week. The bitcoin market is recovering because investors are getting over the initial shock and realizing that China no longer dominates the market however the recovery was short of its recent peak of around $4,950.

The recent fall was triggered by several factors. Some large bitcoin exchanges in China announced plans to close by the end of the month as China cracked down on digital currencies and banned any new initial coin offerings as a way of raising funds. Bitcoin also took a hit last week after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon criticized it as a fraud and compared the popularity of virtual currencies to the tulip bulb mania of the 17th century.

Slack reaches $5 billion

Workplace messaging app Slack has raised $250 million in a funding round led by the Japanese tech giant SoftBank, putting its overall valuation at $5.1 billion. SoftBank said Monday that its Vision Fund led a Series G funding round alongside Accel and other investors, topping up its existing $540 million in funding to $790 million.

"Slack is the operating system for today's fast moving businesses, enabling teams to work together effectively at a time when businesses need to be responsive to rapid change and disruption," Deep Nishar, senior managing partner at the SoftBank Vision Fund, said in a statement Monday. "The Vision Fund is excited to invest in Slack and support its mission to help millions of people, teams and companies collaborate and communicate."

 

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.