Top daily news
Equity markets are mixed currently after Wall Street retreat Thursday as longer-dated bond yields crept higher. Facebook dipped 1.53% after it blocked Australian users from viewing or sharing news, Walmart shares lost 6.48% as the retail giant’s fourth-quarter earnings missed Wall Street’s expectations.
Forex news
| Currency Pair | Change |
|---|---|
| EUR USD | +0.18% |
| GBP USD | +0.86% |
| USD JPY | -0.32% |
| AUD USD | +0.27% |
The Dollar weakening is intact currently . 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, fell 0.4% Thursday as US Labor Department reported 861 thousand Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last week, up from 848 thousand the previous week.
Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD reversed their retreating Thursday. Both pairs are higher currently. AUD/USD continued climbing Thursday while USD/JPY continued sliding with both Australian dollar and yen higher against the greenback currently.
Stock Market news
| Indices | Change |
|---|---|
| Dow Jones Index | -0.17% |
| GB 100 Index | -1.37% |
| Nikkei Index | -0.27% |
| Hang Seng Index | +0.76% |
| Australian Stock Index | -1.34% |
Futures on three main US stock indexes are lower currently ahead of Markit’s report on US manufacturing sector activity at 15:54 CET today. Wall Street ended lower yesterday as US economy recorded a surprise increase in weekly jobless claims. Treasury Secretary Yellen said that recent signs of improvement in the US economy were no reason to scale back the administration’s $1.9 trillion relief plan because the economy remains in a “deep hole” with many people still hurting. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded daily losses ranging from 0.4% to 0.7%.
European stock indexes are mixed today after closing lower Thursday led by energy shares. Asian indexes are mostly lower today with Australia’s All Ordinaries ASX 200 Index leading losses as Australia’s prime minister urged Facebook to lift news blockade.
Commodity Market news
| Commodities | Change |
|---|---|
| Brent Crude Oil | -0.41% |
| WTI Crude | -1.25% |
Brent is extending losses today. Oil prices ended lower yesterday despite a sharp drop in US crude inventories, as market participants took profits following days of buying spurred by a cold snap in Texas, the largest US energy-producing state. The Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday a 7.3 million barrels draw in US crude inventories last week, compared with an expected decline of 2.4 million barrels. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell 1% and is lower currently. Brent crude lost 0.6% to $63.93 a barrel on Thursday.
Gold Market News
| Metals | Change |
|---|---|
| Gold | -0.15% |
Gold prices are edging lower today . April gold settled 0.1% higher at $1775 an ounce on Thursday, the first gain in 5 sessions.
https://www.ifcmarkets.com/en/market-overview/market-overview-19-02-2021