Stocks rally pauses after Wall Street closed at records - 22.3.2024

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 0.6% higher on Thursday while Department of Labor data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment insurance fell last week when no change was expected.

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

US stock indexes futures are mixed currently as the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes edged down to 4.243%. The three main stock benchmarks ended at new all-time highs on Thursday notching daily gains in a range of 0.4% to 0.5% as US private sector activity continued expanding in March.

European stock indexes are mixed currently after closing higher on Thursday with technology shares leading gains while the Swiss National Bank surprised the market with a decision to lower its main policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.5% whereas the Bank of England held interest rates as expected. Asian stock indexes futures are mixed today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leading losses led by technology shares after a top Commerce Department official suggested that China’s biggest chipmaker- SMIC- may have violated US trade law in making a processor for a flagship Huawei phone.

Brent is extending losses currently. Prices fell on Thursday as analysts scrutinized US Energy Information Administration (EIA) report the previous day showing that the gasoline product supplied, a proxy for product demand, slipped below 9 million barrels last week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures slid 0.3% and is lower currently. Brent futures slipped 0.2% at $85.78 a barrel on Thursday.