Stocks trade cautiously after Wall Street rebound - 14.4.2023

The Dollar weakening 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, retreated 0.6% Thursday as the Department of Labor data showed the number of Americans who sought unemployment benefits over the last week was higher than the forecast while their number rose.

Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD slowed their climbing Thursday while Eurostat reported stronger than expected euro area industrial production increase in February. Both euro and Pound are higher against the Dollar currently. USD/JPY continued its sliding while AUD/USD accelerated its advancing yesterday with the yen little changed against the Greenback currently and the Australian dollar lower.

US stock indexes futures are down currently ahead of the March retail sales report today at 14:30 CET as the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes ticked down to 3.441%. The three main stock benchmarks recorded gains Thursday in the range of 1.1% to 2.0% led by tech stocks as Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed producer prices growth slowed more than expected in March, reigniting speculations Federal Reserve may pause the rate hikes cycle.

European stock indexes mixed currently after closing higher on Thursday led by household goods shares. Asian stock indexes futures are mixed today with Australia’s All Ordinaries index leading gains.

Brent is extending losses today. Price fell yesterday after Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) highlighted downside risks to summer oil demand in a monthly report, citing rising inventories and challenges to global growth. OPEC kept its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2023 unchanged however. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 1.3% and is lower currently. Brent crude lost 1.4% to $86.09 a barrel on Thursday.