Markets edge higher after choppy Wall Street session - 12.5.2023

The Dollar strengthening has halted 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, rose 0.4% Thursday despite the Department of Labor data showing the number of Americans who sought unemployment benefits over the last week was higher than the forecast while their number rose.

Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD reversed their climbing Thursday while the Bank of England implemented a 25 basis point rate hike to 4.5% as expected, increasing rates for the twelfth consecutive meeting. Both euro and Pound are higher against the Dollar currently. USD/JPY reversed its sliding and AUD/USD reversed its advancing yesterday with both the yen and the Australian dollar lower against the Greenback currently.

US stock indexes futures are up currently ahead of the of University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment preliminary report at 16:00 CET today as the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes ticked down to 3.371%. The three main stock benchmarks recorded returns Thursday in the range of -0.66% to +0.18% as shares of regional banks continued retreating after regional lender PacWest Bancorp tumbled 22.7% as it reported deposits dropped around 9.5% in the week of May 5.

European stock indexes are up currently after closing marginally lower on Thursday with mining shares leading losses. Asian stock indexes futures are mostly higher today with Japan's Nikkei leading gains buoyed by strong earnings from Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, which rose 4% and 5%, respectively.

Brent is extending losses today. Prices ended lower yesterday while Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forecast global oil demand for 2023, which projected demand in China, the world's biggest oil importer, would increase. On the supply side, Iraq sent an official request to Turkey to restart oil exports through a pipeline running from Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, which could add 450,000 bpd to global crude flows. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 2.3% and is lower currently. Brent crude lost 1.9% to $74.98 a barrel on Thursday.