Equities pause after SP 500 closed at a third straight record - 12.4.2021

The Dollar strengthening 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, added 0.1% on Friday as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported core producer price index rose 3.1% over year in March after 2.5% gain in February.

EUR/USD joined GBP/USD’s continued sliding Friday as federal statistics agency Destatis reported German industrial output fell 1.6% over month in February when a 1.5% rise was forecast. Euro is lower against the Dollar currently while Pound is higher. USD/JPY reversed its sliding Friday while AUD/USD reversed its climbing with yen higher against the Greenback currently while Australian dollar is lower.

Futures on US equity benchmarks are down currently ahead of US budget report today at 20:00 CET. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded gains ranging from 0.5% to 0.9% Friday as banks prepare to start first-quarter earnings season this week with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo scheduled to report on Wednesday. 

European stock indexes are mixed currently after ending mixed on Friday . Asian indexes are in red mostly today with Shanghai Composite leading losses while shares in Alibaba Group Holding rose over 15% after China slapped a record 18 billion yuan ($2.75 billion) fine on the e-commerce giant.