Equities mixed ahead of US inflation report - 14.8.2024

The Dollar is steady 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, ended 0.5% lower on Tuesday after Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing producer prices rose 0.1% over month when steady growth at 0.2% was expected.

Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD accelerated their climbing yesterday as the Office for National Statistics data showed that UK pay excluding bonuses grew between April and June at the lowest rate in two years. Pound is lower against the dollar currently while euro is higher still. USD/JPY reversed its advancing while AUD/USD accelerated its climbing on Tuesday with the yen lower against the Greenback currently and Australian dollar higher still. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 5.25% and signaled more easing to come, undermining New Zealand dollar.

Futures on three main US stock indexes are up currently with the yield on benchmark 10-year US notes up at 3.923%. Stock indexes ended higher on Tuesday as three main stock benchmarks recorded daily gains in a range from 1% to 2.4% after US producer prices rose less than expected in July.

European stock indexes are rising currently after closing higher on Tuesday with health care shares leading gains. Asian indexes futures are declining today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index leading losses while Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced he would step down as ruling party leader in September.

Brent is advancing currently. Prices ended nearly 2% lower yesterday as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries the previous day cut its estimate for expected demand in 2024 even though the group and its allies, known as OPEC+, aim to raise output from October. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release its US inventory data at 18:30 CET today. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 2.14% but is higher currently. Brent lost 1.96% to $80.69 a barrel on Tuesday.