Equities mostly down ahead of US inflation data - 22.12.2023

The Dollar weakening has halted today. 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, ended 0.6% lower on Thursday despite Department of Labor data showing the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits declined last week when an increase was expected.

Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD reversed their retreating on Thursday. Both euro and Pound are higher against the dollar currently. USD/JPY accelerated its retreating yesterday while AUD/USD reversed its sliding with the yen higher against the Greenback currently and the Australian dollar lower.

US stock indexes futures are lower currently as the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes edged up to 3.897%. The three main stock benchmarks ended higher on Thursday in a range of 0.9% to 1.3% while Commerce Department downgraded US growth in the third quarter.

European stock indexes are down currently after closing lower on Thursday led by housing shares. Asian stock indexes futures are mixed today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index leading losses while data showed that Japanese inflation eased as expected in November, but still remained above the Bank of Japan’s annual 2% target.

Brent is steady currently. The international oil benchmark fell yesterday as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said US crude output rose to a record 13.3 million barrels per day (bpd) last week, up from the previous all-time high of 13.2 million bpd. At the same time Angola said it would exit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Angola produces around 1.1 million bpd, compared with 28 million bpd for the whole group. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slipped 0.4% and is flat currently. Brent futures slid 0.4% to $79.39 a barrel on Thursday.