Top daily news
Equity markets are mixed currently after SP500, Dow and Nasdaq ended the week at fresh records on Friday while 10-year Treasury yields slipped to 1.261%. Amazon shares added 0.51% underperforming market followed by reports Amazon plans to accept bitcoin payments this year which spurred a 15% jump in the largest cryptocurrency, Facebook shares jumped 5.3% amid news Zuckerberg wants Facebook to become online ‘metaverse’ where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets.
Forex news
| Currency Pair | Change |
|---|---|
| EUR USD | +0.19% |
| GBP USD | +0.06% |
| USD JPY | -0.33% |
| AUD USD | -0.97% |
The Dollar strengthening has halted 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, gained 0.1% on Friday after Markit report US manufacturing activity expansion accelerated in July.
GBP/USD reversed its climbing Friday while EUR/USD ended flat despite Eurostat report euro-zone business activity growing at its fastest pace in more than two decades. USD/JPY reversed its retreating Friday while AUD/USD reversed its climbing with Australian dollar lower against the Greenback currently while yen higher.
Stock Market news
| Indices | Change |
|---|---|
| Dow Jones Index | -0.47% |
| Nikkei Index | +1.02% |
| Hang Seng Index | -3.4% |
| Australian Stock Index | % |
Futures on US equity benchmarks are down currently as the three main US stock benchmarks recorded daily gains ranging from 0.7% to 1.04% Friday. With just over 20% of the SP 500 constituents having reported quarterly results, 88% of firms have beaten markets expectations so far. The earnings season continues with Facebook, Tesla, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon among companies expected to report quarterly earnings this week.
European stock indexes are retreating currently after ending higher on Friday with auto stocks leading gains. Asian indexes are mixed today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index leading losses on concerns over tightening Chinese regulations.
Commodity Market news
| Commodities | Change |
|---|---|
| Brent Crude Oil | -1.48% |
| WTI Crude | -1.36% |
Brent is edging lower currently on coronavirus spread and China floods concerns. Prices rose on Friday despite energy services firm Baker Hughes report US active oil rigs count rose seven to 387 last week, their highest since April 2020. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 0.2% but is lower currently. September Brent crude added 0.4% to $74.10 a barrel on Friday.
Gold Market News
| Metals | Change |
|---|---|
| Gold | +0.5% |
Gold prices are edging lower today. Spot gold lost 0.3% settling at $1806.71 on Friday.
https://www.ifcmarkets.com/en/market-overview/market-overview-26-07-2021