Equities down after Wall Street rally stalled - 17.5.2024

The Dollar strengthening is intact 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 0.2% higher on Thursday.

Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD reversed their advancing on Thursday. Both euro and Pound are little changed against the dollar currently. USD/JPY reversed its retreating while AUD/USD reversed its climbing yesterday with both the yen and the Australian dollar lower against the Greenback currently.

US stock index futures are lower currently with the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes down at 4.371%. The three main stock benchmarks ended lower on Thursday with daily losses in the range of -0.26% to -0.1% while data showed industrial production in the United States remained unchanged in April compared to the month prior.

European indexes futures are mixed today after stock indexes closed lower on Thursday with oil and gas shares leading losses. Asian stock indexes futures are mostly falling today with Japan’s Nikkei leading gains while Chinese stocks retreated as data showed industrial production grew more than expected in April whereas retail sales missed expectations.

Brent is edging higher currently. Prices ended higher on Thursday as data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed the previous day a larger than expected drawdown in US crude inventories for last week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures ended 0.4% higher and are higher currently. Brent futures added 0.4% to $83.07 a barrel on Thursday.