Markets edge higher after Wall Street rebound - 3.12.2021

The Dollar strengthening 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, added 0.1% Thursday despite the US Labor Department report 238 thousand Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last week, up from 199 thousand the previous week.

EUR/USD continued retreating yesterday while GBP/USD reversed its sliding despite Eurostat report euro zone producer prices surged 21.9% over year in October. Both euro and Pound are lower against the Dollar currently. USD/JPY reversed its retreating yesterday while AUD/USD continued sliding with both the Australian dollar and yen lower against Greenback currently.

Futures on three main US stock indexes are up currently with US 10-year Treasury note yields down at 1.429%. US stock market rebounded Thursday despite an uptick in weekly jobless claims, although the overall figure remains below the pre-pandemic level. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded daily gains in the range of 0.4% to 1.8%.

 European stock indexes are higher currently after closing down Thursday led by tech shares. Asian indexes are mostly gaining today led by Nikkei while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down amid news US adopted law under which the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) must be able to inspect audits of foreign firms listed on US markets and requires companies to name any Chinese Communist Party members on their board of directors.

Brent is extending gains. Prices ended higher yesterday despite OPEC+ surprise decision to stick to its plans and to boost output monthly by 400,000 barrels per day. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) ended up 1.4% and is higher currently. Brent crude gained 1.2% to $69.67 a barrel on Thursday.