Against the background of positive statistics on the Consumer Confidence Index, all the US indices slightly strengthened at the end of the trading day. The S&P 500 rose by 0.2%, Dow Jones increased by 0.03%, and Nasdaq Composite jumped by 0.6%.
West European stock indices did not change much on Wednesday. Yesterday, the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Executive Board’s Director, Fabio Panetta, said the ECB would not rush to reduce the emergency of the bond-buying program. This verbal intervention led to a drop in the European currency.
Oil prices have remained at the same level. Investors’ fears that a possible resumption of supplies from Iran will lead to an oversaturation of the market were offset by a decrease in crude oil inventories in the US, which heightened expectations for better demand ahead of the peak of the summer season. Natural gas inventories are expected to report today.
With the temporary rising of the dollar index and Treasury yields, gold fell sharply on Wednesday. The price fell below $1,900 an ounce but kind of recovered at the opening of trading on Thursday.
Asian stock indices corrected slightly on Thursday. China started to delve into the tapering of stimulus measures, and as a result, China’s blue-chip index decreased by 0.2%. Japan’s Nikkei index fell by 0.8%.
Main market quotes:
- S&P 500 (F) 4,195.99 +7.86 (+0.19%)
- Dow Jones 34,323.05 +10.59 (+0.03%)
- DAX 15,450.72 -14.37 (-0.09%)
- FTSE 100 7,026.93 -2.86 (-0.04%)
- USD Index 90.03 +0.39 (+0.44%)
Important events:
- US Prelim GDP (q/q) at 15:30 (GMT+3);
- US Initial JoblessClaims (w/w) at 15:30 (GMT+3);
- US Home Sales (m/m) at 17:00 (GMT+3);
- Natural Gas Storage (w/w) at 17:30 (GMT+3).
