The US currency continues to decline relative to other major currencies against the growing budget deficits and US government debt. Financial markets participants expect that the Federal Reserve System will continue to raise interest rates this year. Yesterday, mixed economic reports were published in the US: the number of initial jobless claims in the US rose to 230,000, as analysts expected; the index of the manufacturing activity from the Federal Reserve Bank increased to 25.8; the producer price index was 0.4%, as predicted. The US dollar index (DX) closed in the negative zone (-0.60%).
The British pound is strengthening against the US currency weakness. Yesterday, it also became known that the EU could soften the terms of cooperation with Britain during the transition period until the country finally leaves the union. The Japanese yen also continued to strengthen against the US dollar, because of the nomination of Haruhiko Kuroda for a second term at the head of the Bank of Japan.
The "black gold" prices rose against the US currency weakness. At the moment, futures for the WTI crude oil are testing a mark of $61.5 per barrel.
Market Indicators
Yesterday, the major US stock indices closed the trading session in the positive zone: SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) (+1.28%), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) (+1.28%), PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ) (+1.86%).
United States 10-Year government bonds yield is at the level of 2.90%.
The news feed on 2018.02.16:
- Retail sales report in the UK at 11:30 (GMT+2:00);
- Statistics on trading and real estate market in the US at 15:30 (GMT+2:00).
Financial markets of China are closed due to the holiday.