Dollar strengthened after Fed minutes
US stock market stepped back on Wednesday with weak retailer reports providing little support. The S&P 500 slid 0.3% to 2856.27. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.4% to 25776.61. Nasdaq composite index fell 0.5% to 7750.84. The dollar strengthening continued as minutes of Federal Reserve last meeting revealed officials felt there were no data supporting a rate cut need 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 0.1% to 98.094 and is higher currently. Futures on US stock indexes point to lower openings today.
DAX 30 outperforms European indexes
European stocks slipped on Wednesday with Berxit and global trade prospect uncertainty undermining market sentiment . Both the EUR/USD and GBP/USD accelerated their slide and are lower currently. The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.1% led by bank shares. Germany’s DAX 30 however added 0.2% to 12168.74. France’s CAC 40 slid 0.1% while UK’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.1% to 7334.19 amid reports of rising pressure on UK Prime Minister Theresa May to resign after lawmakers in her own party rejected her compromise deal on exiting the EU.
Hang Seng leads Asian indexes losses
Asian stock indices are mostly falling today after news overnight the United States was considering curbs on Chinese video surveillance firms including Hikvision. Nikkei turned 0.6% lower to 21151.14 as yen climb against the dollar continued despite the Markit flash purchasing managers’ index’s decline to 49.6 in May from 50.2 in the previous month indicated manufacturing contracted in May. Chinese stocks are falling: the Shanghai Composite Index is down 1.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is 1.6% lower. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index lost 0.3% despte Australian dollar continued sliding against the greenback at a previous session’s pace.
Brent falls on US crude inventories build
Brent futures prices are extending losses today. Prices fell yesterday after the report US crude stockpiles rose 4.7 million barrels while gasoline stocks increased by 3.7 million last week. July Brent crude lost 1.7% to $70.99 a barrel on Wednesday.
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AUD/USD remains under pressure above 0.6400
AUD/USD managed to regain some composure and rebounded markedly from Tuesday’s YTD lows in the sub-0.6400 region ahead of the release of the Australian labour market report on Thursday.
EUR/USD faces decent contention around 1.0600
The knee-jerk in the Greenback reignited some buying interest in the risk complex and pushed EUR/USD to three-day highs near 1.0680, rapidly leaving behind the recent yearly low around 1.0600.
Gold eases despite risk-off mood
Gold trades in a relatively tight range near $2,390 in the second half of the day on Wednesday. In the absence of high-tier data releases, investors keep a close eye on headlines surrounding the Iran-Israel conflict.
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Markets stabilize after Powell rules out rate hike, but the signs don’t look good
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