Markets upbeat after S&P 500 and Dow refresh records

Dmitry Lukashov IFC Markets

Top daily news

Stock futures are mostly up currently following a bullish session on Friday as Dow and SP500 again ended at records. Bitcoin pared most of its losses after plunging as much as 14% on Sunday following reports the US Treasury may be planning to crack down on money-laundering activity within digital assets.

Forex news

Currency Pair	Change
EUR USD	-0.09%
GBP USD	+0.25%
USD JPY	-0.38%
AUD USD	-0.03%

The Dollar weakening 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, slipped 0.1% on Friday as the University of Michigan reported Consumer Sentiment index rose to 86.5 for April from 84.9 the previous month when an increase to 88.9 was expected.

EUR/USD reversed its sliding Friday while GBP/USD’s reversed its climbing as Eurostat reported the trade surplus in single currency area fell to 18.4 billion euro from 24.4 billion in January, when a decline to 21.9 billion was forecast. Euro is lower against the Dollar currently while Pound is higher. USD/JPY reversed its sliding Friday while AUD/USD reversed its climbing with yen higher against the Greenback currently while Australian dollar is lower.

Stock market news

Indices	Change
Dow Jones Index	+0.44%
GB 100 Index	-0.33%
Nikkei Index	+0.01%
Hang Seng Index	+0.61%

Futures on US equity benchmarks are mixed currently after SP 500 and Dow posted their fourth consecutive weekly gains Friday. Risk on sentiment got a boost last session from strong housing data showing homebuilding rebounded sharply last month. Earnings session continues with IBM and Coca-Cola slated to report quarterly results later in the day. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded gains ranging from 0.1% to 0.5% Friday.

European stock indexes are mixed currently after ending higher on Friday led by auto shares boosted by strong earnings report from Daimler. Asian indexes are advancing today with Shanghai Composite leading gains while Nikkei index ended essentially unchanged as Japan exports rose in March as global demand grew.

Commodity market news

Commodities	Change
Brent Crude Oil	-0.37%
WTI Crude	-0.18%

Brent is edging lower currently. Prices retreated on Friday as US drillers increased the number of oil rigs by seven to 344 last week, according to energy services firm Baker Hughes. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures declined 0.5% and is lower currently. June Brent crude lost 0.3% to $66.77 a barrel on Friday.

Gold market news

Metals	Change
Gold	+0.36%

Gold prices are edging higher today. June gold gained 0.8% settling at $1780.20 on Friday, booking nearly 2% gain for the week, best weekly gain of the year.

Want to get more free analytics? Open Demo Account now to get daily news and analytical materials.

Author

Dmitry Lukashov

IFC Markets

Dimtry Lukashov is the senior analyst of IFC Markets. He started his professional career in the financial market as a trader interested in stocks and obligations.

EUR/USD faces next resistance near 1.1930

EUR/USD has surrendered its earlier intraday advance on Thursday and is now hovering uncomfortably around the 1.1860 region amid modest gains in the US Dolla. Moving forward, markets are exoected to closely follow Friday’s release of US CPI data.

GBP/USD inching closer to 1.36

The Pound Sterling edged higher to 1.3640 on Thursday, recovering from an earlier pullback after stronger-than-expected US jobs data initially weighed on the pair. The Bank of England held rates at 3.75% at its February 4 meeting in a narrow 5-4 vote split, with four members preferring a 25 basis point cut to 3.50%.

Gold falls to near $4,900 as selling pressure intensifies

Gold price faces some selling pressure around $4,910 during the early Asian session on Friday. The yellow metal tumbles over 3.50% on the day, with algorithmic traders appearing to amplify the precious metal’s sudden drop. Traders will closely monitor the release of the US Consumer Price Index inflation report for January, which will be released later on Friday.

Ethereum investors face huge unrealized losses following price slump

US spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds flipped negative again on Wednesday after recording net outflows of $129.1 million, reversing mild inflows seen at the beginning of the week, per SoSoValue data. Fidelity's FETH was responsible for more than half of withdrawals, posting outflows of $67 million.

A tale of two labour markets: Headline strength masks underlying weakness

Undoubtedly, yesterday’s delayed US January jobs report delivered a strong headline – one that surpassed most estimates. However, optimism quickly faded amid sobering benchmark revisions.

Aster Price Forecast: Demand sparks on Binance Wallet partnership for on-chain perpetuals

Aster is up roughly 9% so far on Thursday, hinting at the breakout of a crucial resistance level. Aster partners up with Binance wallet for the second season of the on-chain perpetuals challenge.