Crude prices decreased, as traders tried to calculate a rebalancing point for oil after US rig count was reported unchanged on Friday. WTI futures fell 1.2% to$47.82 per barrel and Brent dropped 1.1% to trade at $48.19 per barrel. Both benchmarks ended previous week in the green and hit multi-month heights. In the meantime, Alexander Novak, Russian Energy Minister, announced,
Euro Zone's composite and manufacturing PMI's were published on Monday and they disappointed, indicating at a weaker economy. Manufacturing PMI declined to 51.5 from 51.7 points and service PMI stayed at the same level of 53.1 points. The Euro declined to daily lows at 1.1210 against the US Dollar on the news.
On Friday, major US equity markets opened in green, recovering some of the early losses. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.3%, opening at 2,046.00, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index grew 0.2%, starting at 17,478.00 points. In the meantime, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.5% to 4,735.00 points.
Crude oil futures opened Friday's North American trading session lower, whereas gold and silver posted some gains. WTI lost 0.12%, opening at $48.10, while Brent dropped 0.23%, starting at $48.70 per barrel. In the meantime, the bullion added 0.29% to $1,258.40 per troy ounce, and silver jumped 0.80% to $16.63 per ounce on the NYSE.
The Canadian Dollar lacked anticipated volatility, as macro data sent mixed signals to investors. While retail sales missed analyst expectations, dropping by 1% instead of 0.6% as forecast, yearly inflation picked up to 1.7%, in comparison to 1.3% in March, offsetting the negative effects. The Loonie traded at roughly 1.31 versus the US Dollar, with an oil price of under
Canada's CPI grew from 1.3% to 1.7% on a yearly basis in April, whereas the Bank of Canada's annual core Consumer Price Index jumped from 2.1% to 2.2%, according to fresh figures released by Statistics Canada on Friday. The published data was in line with market expectations. Meanwhile, the Transportation Index grew 1.0% in April, following the 0.9% drop seen
Data on Canadian retail sales induced disappointment, as the figure showed a 1% drop, missing analyst expectations of a 0.6% dip for March. The decline came chiefly from a 2.9% plunge in auto and part trade, as well as lagging furniture sales. While the news triggered a Canadian Dollar sell-off upon the announcement, the effect was neutralized by positive inflation
Silver showed signs of recovery on Friday, erasing some of the losses generated by the FOMC minutes release. The metal reached a high of $16.59 at 8:45 AM GMT, showing the lowest daily level of $16.48 at 5:45 AM GMT. Since Silver is denoted in US Dollars, the metal had lost its value following a boosted Greenback on Thursday.
The USD/CAD pair was seen hovering around the 1.3090 Canadian Dollar mark at 9:00 AM GMT, dropping by roughly 60 pips ahead of a series of Canadian data that is about to come out later on Friday. Oil climbing 0.7% to trade around $49 provided minor support for the Canadian Dollar. Domestic retail sales as well as inflation data will
Stocks on Wall Street are on track to a positive start on Friday, as futures grew before the market opening, with further volatility expected upon the US housing data announcement. S&P 500 futures added 0.3% to trade at 2'044.00 points, indicating a potential curb in losses from the session before. Housing prices are expected to rise by 1.3%, slowing down
President of Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem announced a possible time for an agreement between creditors and Greece on Friday. It is possible that common ground will be found at the first bailout review meeting next week on Tuesday. Both sides step by step changed their positions during negotiations, nearing a possible solution.
USD/JPY pair went down after publication of the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, but became bullish later in the day, as it traded in a 22 pips range during Asian session. First the US Dollar declined from 110.38 to 109.67 against the Yen and afterwards regained its losses and the Greenback traded at 110.40 against the Japanese Yen by 10:30 GMT.
The British Pound traded 0.3% weaker against the Greenback by 11:15 GMT on the London Stock Exchange on Friday, despite strong fundamentals posted a couple of days ago. According to the data released on Thursday, Britain's retail sales grew 1.3% month-over-month in April, posting the first increase since January. Meanwhile, the recent poll posted a huge increase in the number
Canada's CPI for the past month is expected to show an increase from 1.3% to 1.7% on an annualized basis in April, whereas the core CPI is predicted to slow down to 2%. The faster inflation rate will provide support to the Canadian Dollar, which touched its six-week low against its US counterpart on Thursday. Official inflation figures will be released by Statistics
Europe's major stocks posted significant gains by 8:00 GMT, helped by steel makers, oil companies and miners. Thus, Germany's DAX 30 Index grew 1.09%, trading at 9,902.18, whereas Britain's FTSE 100 Index jumped 1.51% to 6,145.32 points. Meanwhile, France's CAC 40 Index increased 1.52% to 4,347.77, and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 Index rose 1.32% to 2,961.55 points.
Figures on the Italian current account showed an expanding surplus on Friday, reaching 2.245 billion Euros in March. The surplus makes the third largest economy in the Eurozone a lender, while a deficit would initiate a Euro sell-off, putting downward pressure onto the currency. A data release earlier this week showed Italian exports to be 5.365 billion larger than imports,
Euro area improved its current account in March, as its surplus increased to 27.3 billion euro. Previously, after revision, in February it was 19.2 billion euro and in that month it had decreased from 27.5 billion in January. In general, Euro zone's current account balance has had its ups and downs for the past years, but it has never slipped
The New Zealand consumer confidence fell to the lowest level in 7 months, as prospects for short-term and long-term economic outlook dropped 3 and 5 points, respectively, leading the Consumer Confidence Index to dip by 4 points to 116.2 points. An indicator higher than 100 points shows optimism, however, a drop under 100 points suggests a pessimistic sentiment.
Japan is hosting the G7 meeting this weekend. At the meeting main points on the agenda are global economy, fiscal and monetary policy and uncertainties. Monetary policy and currencies are expected to be one of the top priorities. Japan faces a challenge because it has to come up with a common way to boost global economic growth.
Australian Dollar moved above a 61.8% Fibonacci level, as further depreciation is expected if it moves below this level. John Edwards of the Reserve Bank of Australia gave positive comments on Australian inflation in Wall Street Journal and it boosted the Aussie. Moreover, a jump in crude prices increased interest in high-yield currencies.
Oil surged on Friday and both its benchmarks reached above $49 level, as traders awaited for new data on rig count in US. WTI futures with a delivery in July rose 1.1% to $49.21 per barrel and Brent hiked 0.9% to trade at $49.25 per barrel. Recently oil moved up with unexpected supply disruptions in Canada, Nigeria, Venezuela and Libya.
New Zealand Dollar is supported by its moving average of 100-day's at 0.6717, as it appreciated against the US Dollar on Friday. NZD/USD pair recovered from a two-month low, which it reached on Thursday. A slight surge in crude oil prices increased demand for riskier currencies as the Aussie and New Zealand Dollar.
The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the United States grew to 0.6% last month, following no change posted in March and the 0.1% increase seen in February. Meanwhile, economists polled by Reuters expected the Index to jump to 0.4% in the fourth month of the year.
On Wednesday, Ipsos MORI released results of its latest opinion poll, which showed that the proportion of people who would vote to remain in the European Union increased 18% since February 2016 to 55%. In the meantime, the odds at Ladbrokes of Britain voting to stay in the EU grew to 82%, whereas the betting odds for a 'Leave' vote dropped to