Stock markets pause amid profit taking - 18.2.2021

The Dollar strengthening continues currently ahead of the US Labor Department report at 14:30 CET expected to show 775 thousand Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last week, down from 793 thousand the previous week. 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, rose 0.3% Wednesday as Census Bureau reported retail sales jumped 5.3% over month in January after 1% decline in December.

Both GBP/USD and EUR/USD continued their sliding yesterday despite UK Office for National Statistics report UK inflation ticked up to 0.7% over year from 0.6% in December. Both Euro and Pound are lower against the Dollar currently. AUD/USD reversed its sliding Wednesday while USD/JPY reversed its climbing with the dynamics reversed for both pairs currently.

The US stock futures are down currently after mixed session Wednesday as minutes from the January Fed meeting showed policymakers were willing to maintain current super accommodative monetary policy to boost the US economy. The three main US stock indexes booked returns ranging from -0.6% to +0.3% with Dow ending at a fresh record.

European stock indexes are lower currently after a bearish session Wednesday led by retail shares. Asian stock indexes are mostly lower today with Shanghai Composite leading gains in first trading session since the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.