Stocks retreat as bond yields spiked - 19.3.2021

Top daily news

Equity markets are mostly down currently after yields on US 10-year Treasury notes jumped. Amazon shares lost 3.44% Thursday despite the Delhi High Court upholding the Emergency Award passed against the $3.4 billion Future-Reliance deal after Amazon alleged that the Future retail conglomerate violated an agreement with Amazon by agreeing to sell its assets to Reliance Industries last year. Tesla dropped 6.93% underperforming markets.

Forex news

Currency Pair Change
EUR USD -0.14%
GBP USD -0.16%
USD JPY +0.25%
AUD USD -0.07%

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, jumped 0.5% Thursday despite US Labor Department report 770 thousand Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last week, up from 725 thousand the previous week.

Both GBP/USD and EUR/USD reversed their climbing Thursday as the Bank of England kept interest rates and its bond buying program unchanged on Thursday. Both pairs are lower currently. USD/JPY reversed its sliding while AUD/USD’s reversed its climbing Thursday with both yen and Australian dollar lower against the Greenback currently.

Stock Market news

Indices Change
Dow Jones Index +0.1%
GB 100 Index -0.84%
Nikkei Index -1.41%
Hang Seng Index -1.76%
Australian Stock Index -0.55%

Futures on three main US stock indexes are up currently after a sharp pullback yesterday as bond yields advance resumed. Wall Street ended solidly lower yesterday as US Treasury 10-year yield jumped to the 1.754% - the highest since early 2020 before easing. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded daily losses ranging from 0.5% to 3.0%, led by technology shares.

European stock indexes are mixed today after closing higher Thursday led by basic resources shares. Asian indexes are mostly lower today with Hang Seng leading losses.

Commodity Market news

Commodities Change
Brent Crude Oil +0.51%
WTI Crude +0.87%

Brent is edging higher today. Oil prices plunged yesterday as slower than planned vaccination in several European countries intensified concerns oil demand recovery would not be as robust as hoped for. The increase of US crude inventories for the fourth straight week after severe cold weather in Texas and the central part of the country in February forced shutdowns at refineries also weighed on oil prices. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures dropped 7.1% but is higher currently. May Brent crude slumped 6.9% to $63.28 a barrel on Thursday.

Gold Market News

Metals Change
Gold +0.35%

Gold prices are extending gains today . April gold settled 0.3% higher at $1732.50 an ounce on Thursday.

https://www.ifcmarkets.com/en/market-overview/market-overview-19-03-2021