The US dollar continued to strengthen against the basket of major currencies. The US dollar index (#DX) reached the highest mark for two weeks and closed in the positive zone (+0.15%). Yesterday the Fed’s Beige Book was published, which pointed to further growth of the US economy. However, despite this, the growth is limited due to employee scarcity and an increase in the raw materials prices. Additional pressure is put by the trade conflict between the US and China.
Yesterday, a number of important economic data were also published. The consumer price index in the UK was 2.4% (year on year) and was worse than the forecasted value of 2.6%. The consumer price index in the Eurozone met investors’ expectations and amounted to 2.0% (year on year). The number of building permits issued in the US fell to 1.273M, while experts expected the value of 1.330M. Today in the Asian trading session a report on the labor market for June in Australia was published, which showed that the number of employees increased by 50.9K instead of the expected value of 16.7K.
The “black gold” prices are falling against the backdrop of growing crude oil inventories in the US. At the moment, futures for the WTI crude oil are testing the mark of $67.65 per barrel.
Market Indicators
Yesterday, a variety of trends was observed in the US stock market: #SPY (+0.21%), #DIA (+0.30%), #QQQ (-0.19%).
At the moment, the yield of 10-year US government bonds is at the level of 2.87-2.88%.
The news feed on 2018.07.19:
A report on retail sales in the UK at 11:30 (GMT+3:00);
The index of manufacturing activity from the Federal Reserve Bank in the US at 15:30 (GMT+3:00).
