Top daily news
Global stock markets’ advance continues currently after the Federal Reserve commitment to maintaining accommodative monetary policy and projection of a rapid jump in US economic growth this year. Apple shares lost 0.65% Wednesday after reports Apple spring event where the tech giant is expected to announce new products will most likely happen in early April. Tesla gained 3.68%.
Forex news
| Currency Pair | Change |
|---|---|
| EUR USD | -0.26% |
| GBP USD | +0.05% |
| USD JPY | -0.35% |
| AUD USD | +0.03% |
The Dollar weakening is intact currently ahead of the US Labor Department report at 13:30 CET expected to show 704 thousand Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last week, down from 712 thousand the previous week. The live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, lost 0.5% Wednesday.
EUR/USD joined GBP/USD’s sustained climbing yesterday as euro-zone statistics bureau Eurostat reported final euro zone annual inflation rate was 0.9% in February 2021, stable compared to January. Pound is higher against the Dollar currently while euro is flat. AUD/USD continued its climbing while USD/JPY continued its sliding Wednesday with both Australian dollar and yen higher against the Greenback currently.
Stock Market news
| Indices | Change |
|---|---|
| Dow Jones Index | +0.08% |
| GB 100 Index | -0.11% |
| Nikkei Index | +0.99% |
| Hang Seng Index | +1.09% |
| Australian Stock Index | -0.63% |
The US stock futures are up currently after SP 500 and Dow closed at record highs on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve projected the US economy would grow by 6.5% this year - the largest annual output growth since 1984. Federal Reserve policy makers left the central bank’s easy money stance in place, saying they expect no interest rate hikes through 2023, even if inflation overshoots 2%. The three main US stock indexes booked gains ranging from 0.3% to 0.6%.
European stock indexes are mixed currently after a bearish session Wednesday led by mining stocks. Asian stock indexes are mostly higher today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index leading gains.
Commodity Market news
| Commodities | Change |
|---|---|
| Brent Crude Oil | -0.9% |
| WTI Crude | -0.97% |
Brent is extending losses currently. Prices ended lower Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration report of a crude stockpile build of 2.4 million barrels last week. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures slid 0.3% and is lower currently. Brent crude lost 0.6% to $68 a barrel on Wednesday.
Gold Market News
| Metals | Change |
|---|---|
| Gold | -0.59% |
Gold prices are edging lower today. April gold lost 0.2% to $1727.10 an ounce on Wednesday.
https://www.ifcmarkets.com/en/market-overview/market-overview-18-03-2021