Market Headlines – 21/3/2018

US

• US. stocks edged higher, led by energy-related companies, as equity markets shrugged off weakness in technology and threats of global trade barriers.
• Crude advanced to a three-week high as the OPEC-led alliance of major oil producers accelerated the time line for curbing a worldwide supply glut, helping to lift the shares of companies such as Hess Corp. and Marathon Petroleum Corp.
• Facebook Inc.’s mounting Cambridge Analytica data issues continued to weigh on tech stock sentiment and draw the ire of politicians on both sides of the Atlantic.
• The March Federal Open Market Committee meeting will be held later today. The meeting will be Jerome Powell’s first as Federal Reserve chairman. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday, with the focus on whether officials will project faster tightening for the rest of the year.

Europe

• European stocks gained for the first time this week as energy companies rallied with oil, offsetting weakness in telecom firms.

Asia

• In Asia overnight Chinese equities declined 0.3%. Japanese equity markets are closed for a holiday.