Market Wrap: Stocks, Bonds, Commodities
U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Tuesday, and each of Wall Street’s main indexes failed to stray far from the unchanged mark following a rally in the prior session as investors continue to try and assess the route of inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 81.52 points (0.24%) to 34,312.46, the S&P 500 lost 8.92 points (0.21%) to 4,188.13 and the Nasdaq Composite flat to 13,657.17.
Asian shares rose on Wednesday and the U.S. dollar languished near multi-month lows after U.S. Federal Reserve officials reaffirmed a dovish monetary policy stance, reassuring investors worried about the prospect of rising inflation
MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan gained 0.49% to 880.50 levels. Australian index fell 0.32% to 7,092.50. Japanese Nikkei traded 0.31% higher to 28,642.19.
European stocks were higher on Wednesday, with the Stoxx Europe 50 Index rose from 0.32% to 4,048.15, Germany’s DAX gained 0.28% to 15,508.75, and France’s CAC advance 0.14% 6,398.33, and U.K.’s FTSE 100 flat to 7,031.75.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose as demand for safe assets grows again, today 10-year bond yields slumped 1.07% to 1.581.
Oil prices moved a shade higher on Tuesday as rising demand from the approach of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer driving season and lifting of coronavirus restrictions mixed with worries that Iran’s possible return to the market will cause a supply glut.
Spot Brent crude oil up 0.57% to $68.88 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.47% to $66.37 a barrel.
The yellow metal traded 0.45% higher to 1905.60 dollars per ounce.
Market Wrap: Forex
The dollar wallowed near a five-month trough against major peers on Wednesday as Federal Reserve insistence that stimulus will continue kept yields low, while surprisingly hawkish New Zealand central bank comments pushed the kiwi higher.
Today, the U.S. dollar index measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, advanced 0.08% to 89.698.
The Euro US Dollar (EUR/USD) is a widely traded pair that fell 0.05% today. This left the pairing trading around $1.22450.
The Japanese yen fell against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday as the stock pushes higher. Today US/JPY rose 0.11% to 108.880 level.
Another commodity-related currency higher against the U.S dollar, AUD/USD gained 0.43% to 0.77830, and NZD/USD up 1.11% to 0.73080.