Equities pull back after rally on vaccine news - 17.11.2020

The Dollar weakening is intact 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 0.2% Monday. EUR/USD continued gaining Monday while GBP/USD ended flat with both pairs higher currently. USD/JPY continued sliding while AUD/USD continued climbing yesterday with the dynamics intact for both pairs currently.

Futures on three main US stock indexes are down currently. US main stock benchmarks rallied Monday led by energy shares. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded gains ranging from 0.8% to 1.6% as Moderna Inc said its experimental Covid-19 vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing infection based on interim late-stage data. European stock indexes are edging lower currently after extending gains yesterday led by energy shares as Moderna became the second drug-maker in a week to report high efficacy for an experimental coronavirus vaccine after Pfizer. Asian indexes are mixed today with Nikkei leading the gains while Chinese stocks retreat after news Tsinghua Unigroup, a major government-backed player in China's technology sector, has defaulted on a 1.3-billion-yuan ($197.96 million) bond.

Brent is extending gains today ahead of the meeting by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia, that could recommend changes to production quotas when all the ministers meet on November 30 and December 1. The group, known as OPEC+, has curbed production by about 7.7 million barrels a day with compliance seen at 96% in October, and had planned to increase output by 2 million bpd from January. Oil prices rallied on Monday after Moderna success reports. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) jumped 3% Monday and is up currently. Brent crude rallied 2.4% to $43.82 a barrel on Monday.