Santa rally intact after positive US reports - 23.12.2021

The Dollar retreating is intact 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, lost 0.4% Wednesday despite upgrading of Q3 US gross domestic product in final reading.

Both EUR/USD and  GBP/USD accelerated their climbing on Wednesday despite Office for National Statistics report the UK GDP grew 1.1% in the third quarter, as the final readings confirmed, below the expected 1.3%. Euro is higher currently against the Dollar while Pound is lower. Both AUD/USD and USD/JPY continue their climbing yesterday with the Australian dollar higher against the Greenback currently while the yen is lower still.

The US stock index futures are up currently ahead of the US Labor Department report at 14:30 CET expected to show 200 thousand Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last week, down from 206 thousand the previous week. The three main US stock indexes booked gains ranging from 0.7% to 1.4% Wednesday as the Conference Board reported US consumer confidence improved further in December.

European stock indexes are mixed currently after ending higher Wednesday led by technology shares. Asian stock indexes are mostly rising today with Nikkei leading gains as the flash PMI data showed that the Japanese private sector recovery was sustained in December.

Brent is edging down currently. Prices gained Wednesday supported by the US Energy Information Administration report domestic crude stockpile fell by 4.7 million barrels last week. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 2.3% but is lower currently. Brent crude gained 1.8% to $75.29 a barrel on Wednesday.