Equities mixed after Wall Street rally - 1.8.2024

The Dollar weakening has reversed 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, slid 0.5% on Wednesday.

Both GBP/USD and EUR/USD reversed their sliding yesterday while Eurostat reported euro area inflation unexpectedly edged up in July. Both euro and Pound are lower against the dollar currently. Both USD/JPY and AUD/USD accelerated their retreating on Wednesday with the yen higher still against the Greenback currently and the Australian dollar lower.

The US stock index futures are mixed currently ahead of ISM Manufacturing PMI report due at 18:00 CET today while US stocks closed solidly higher on Wednesday with the three main US stock benchmarks recording daily gains in a range from 0.2% to 2.6% as Federal Reserve held interest rates steady but opened the door to a cut in September.

European stock indexes futures are mixed currently after closing higher on Wednesday led by tech shares. Bank of England is meeting today with the decision due at 15:00 CET today as analysts expect the central bank will cut rates 25 basis points. Asian stock indexes futures are mostly retreating today with Japan’s Nikkei leading losses while a private survey showed China's manufacturing sector unexpectedly shrank in July.

Brent is down presently. Prices ended nearly 3% higher yesterday after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) report US crude oil stocks fell by above expected 3.4 million barrels last week, compared with analysts' expectations for a 1.1 million barrel draw. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rallied 4.2% but are lower currently. Brent crude rose 3.5% to $80.84 a barrel on Wednesday.