Todays’ Market Summary
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The Dollar strengthening continues
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Futures on US equity benchmarks are up
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Brent is edging up today over persistent supply worries.
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Gold prices are rebounding today
Top daily news
Equities are mostly advancing currently with US 2-year Treasury yields climbing intact. Wall Street gained on Friday following good jobs report. Google shares rose 0.75% while the company said Microsoft’s dominance in government technology and security is a problem, Amazon shares added 0.35% Friday amid news workers at Amazon’s New York City warehouse voted to launch the first American union at the e-commerce giant.
Forex news
| Currency Pair | Change |
|---|---|
| EUR USD | -0.05% |
| GBP USD | +0.19% |
| USD JPY | +0.05% |
| AUD USD | +0.21% |
The Dollar strengthening continues 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, added 0.2% on Friday after Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing US employers added 431,000 positions in March.
GBP/USD joined EUR/USD’s continued sliding Friday despite the Eurostat report euro area inflation accelerated more in March than expected. Euro is lower against the Dollar currently while Pound is up. Both AUD/USD and USD/JPY reversed their retreating Friday with the yen lower against the Greenback currently and Australian dollar higher still.
Stock Market news
| Indices | Change |
|---|---|
| Dow Jones Index | +0.03% |
| Nikkei Index | +0.02% |
| Hang Seng Index | +0.79% |
| Australian Stock Index | -0.28% |
Futures on US equity benchmarks are up currently ahead of the US factory orders report today at 16:00 CET. US stocks ended higher on Friday while the Institute for Supply Management reported the US manufacturing sector’s expansion slowed last month amid rising energy prices. the three main US stock benchmarks recorded daily gains ranging from 0.3% to 0.4% while 2-year Treasury yield exceeded the 10-year rate, forming a ‘yield curve’ inversion that could signal a recession.
European stock indexes are mixed currently after ending higher on Friday led by mining shares. Asian indexes are mostly up today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index leading gainers with markets in mainland China closed for a public holiday.
Commodity Market news
| Commodities | Change |
|---|---|
| Brent Crude Oil | +1.67% |
| WTI Crude | +0.82% |
Brent is edging up today over persistent supply worries. Prices fell on Friday after members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to join in the largest-ever U.S. oil reserves release. However they did not agree on volumes or the commitments of each country at their emergency meeting. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures slid 1% but is higher currently. Brent crude slipped 0.3% to $104.39 a barrel on Friday.
Gold Market News
| Metals | Change |
|---|---|
| Gold | +0.18% |
Gold prices are rebounding today. Prices ended down on Friday: spot gold slid 0.6% to $1924.30 an ounce.