us housing starts for november us weekly jobless claims us industrial production  capacity utilization for november fedex corp 2q results stocks were poised to extend gains ahead of policy decisions by the european central bank and bank of england which follow the federal reserves pivot toward higher interest rates stocks rallied when the central bank completed that pivot wednesday approving plans to end a program of asset purchases by march and penciling in three rate rises in 2022 investors said the change of stanceending months in which the fed said higher inflation would faderemoved the risk of runaway growth in consumer prices theres a goldilocks interpretation said edward park chief investment officer at brooks macdonald referring to a situation in which the fed tames inflation but doesnt push rates high enough to kill the economic recovery mr park said stocks are likely to keep rising through to year end you have people saying you know its painful being in fixed income or cash like the us the eurozone and the uk are experiencing their highest inflation in years central banks there are also contending with waves of coronavirus infections that complicate the outlook for consumer prices and economic growth the bank of england which will publish its decision at 7 am et was until recently expected to raise interest rates thursday however a jump in covid19 cases driven by the omicron variant might encourage the central bank to keep policy on hold mr park said the european central bank meanwhile is expected to signal that it will continue buying bonds for some time and that it wont increase interest rates next year the central bank is due to publish its decision at 745 am investors will parse surveys of purchasing managers in the us and europe for evidence of the extent to which rising coronavirus cases have knocked economic growth the reportsdue at 945 am for the usare expected to show factory output is growing though at a slower pace than in november the dollar fell despite the fed signaling three rate increases in 2022 and accelerating tapering of bond purchases so they end in march suggesting the market was already expecting a lot commerzbank said its not enough for the fed to announce what the market already expected it to do strategist ulrich leuchtmann said he concludes that the dollar can only rise further if the fed appears even more hawkish than it was expected to be interest rates are unlikely to rise faster than the fed projected but if inflation falls faster than expected next year and the fed continues raising rates the dollar could appreciate he said however that will not happen overnight the fed signaled three rate increases in 2022 and accelerated bondpurchase tapering but the ecb is likely to signal a much slower timeframe for scaling back qe in its decision thursday this ecbfed divergence should cause eurusd to fall potentially toward 11200 ing said the ecb is expected to say that its pandemic emergency purchase programme will end in march and that it will either increase its existing asset purchase programme or as ing expects introduce a third program a new program would allow greater flexibility and would be more negative for the euro it said the swiss franc edged lower as the swiss national bank keeps its policy rate and interest on sight deposits at 075 as expected and reiterates that the swiss franc is highly valued the snb said it remains willing to intervene in the foreignexchange market in order to counter upward pressure on the swiss franc the central bank raised its inflation forecasts for 2021 and 2022 but said the longerterm inflation forecast is virtually unchanged from september the bank highlighted an uncertain economic outlook due to the emergence of the omicron variant of covid19 while noting that the vulnerability of mortgage and realestate markets has increased further the turkish lira will suffer steep losses if the central bank cuts interest rates said commerzbank strategist tatha ghose despite hitting new record lows earlier the lira appears to be proceeding rather patiently as if waiting for the next trigger to make a larger move many expect another 100 basispoint rate cut due to president tayyip erdogans unorthodox view that lower rates reduce inflation however central bank governor sahap kavcıoglu was cited downplaying ratecut prospects during an investor call while an emergency rate increase is possible ghose said another rate cut could therefore act like fuel on the already burning fire and lira falls would be quite steep yields on 10year treasury notes ticked down to 1451 thursday from 1460 wednesday what probably wasnt quite so expected at the fed meeting was the outlook of their rate projections for next year said charles hepworth investment director at gam investments hepworth refers to the fact that the majority of fed officials looked for three interestrate rises in 2022 with two even looking for four rises he says so on balance slightly more hawkish than the market had priced in although the clear caveat is that interestrate policy will be firmly tied to the concept of maximum employment he added the feds december meeting rubberstamped the hawkish shift made by chair jerome powell two weeks ago and completed the turnaround in the feds inflation narrative bnp paribas markets 360 said expecting the liftoff in june while the inflation projections and the 2022 dots were on the hawkish side of expectations the feds confidence in the strength and sustainability of the recovery in spite of the omicron virus variant came as a reassurance chief global economist luigi speranza said if the fed is right then the expected tightening should not materially dent the economy but if omicron proves to be a bigger headwind than the fed thinks the fed will probably need to become more cautious he said oil prices rose with dnb markets helge andre martinsen citing rising equity markets and upbeat us oil inventory stats released on wednesday which showed record high levels of us oil demand in the energy information administrations weekly stock data crude inventories fell by 46 million barrels versus consensus expectations of a 17 million barrel drop gasoline and distillate stocks also fell contrary to expectations those stats also showed more robust oil demand than the american petroleum institutes figures released tuesday gold prices rose as the dollar gained in the wake of the feds meeting the fed projected three rate hikes next year joining a move among central banks to begin tightening monetary policy as economies strengthen that trend will likely see gold prices fall to 1500 an ounce by the end of 2022 said georgette boele senior fx and preciousmetals strategist at abn amro higher interest rates tend to weigh on gold prices while also pushing up bond yieldsanother negative for goldshe said netflix inc is slashing its prices in india a key market for global growth where it trails cheaper rival streaming services from amazoncom inc and walt disney co the los gatos calif company this week said in a blog post from india executive monika shergill that it is cutting its basic plan in india by 60 to 199 rupees equivalent to 261 a month netflix also lowered prices on its least expensive plan which offers mobileonly viewing to 195 monthly its most expensive plan has been cut to 851 reddit inc said it has confidentially filed paperwork with the us securities and exchange commission for an initial public offering an announcement that comes at the tail end of a banner year for stockmarket debuts the company said in a blog post that it had started the paperwork with the sec but didnt share any further details apple delays return to office closes three retail stores as covid cases rise apple inc has once again delayed its plans to return to the office as concerns mount about the omicron variant of the virus that causes covid19 and the company also closed three retail locations after a rise in cases at those stores on wednesday apple told its office workers that their return is again delayed to a yettobedetermined date according to a person familiar with the announcement roughly a month ago chief executive officer tim cook told employees they would return in a hybrid approach in february waste and recycling platform rubicon going public in 2 billion spac merger waste and recycling platform rubicon technologies llc is merging with a specialpurpose acquisition company to go public at a valuation of roughly 2 billion the companies said rubicon backed by a highprofile roster including actor leonardo dicaprio is combining with the technologyfocused founder spac in a deal that is expected to be unveiled thursday the biden administration unveiled a plan aimed at boosting the number of commercial truck drivers as part of a broader push to unclog supplychain bottlenecks administration officials on thursday said the plan aims to get more drivers on the road in the coming months by making it easier and faster for them to get certified and by jumpstarting or expanding apprenticeship programs through carriers and other employers with trucking fleets overland park kanbased trucker yellow corp and grocery chain albertsons cos are among the companies that have committed to such programs