- European equities hover near records highs
- US stock fell slightly amid inflation concerns
- US reportedly reduces strategic petroleum reserve deposits by 3.2M barrels
European indices finished today's session mostly flat, near all-time highs, as gains were capped by inflation concerns. The headline inflation rate in the UK jumped to a 10-year high, and many investors now expect that the central bank will hike rates next month, while the Eurozone annual inflation rate rose to 4.1% in October, which is the highest level since July 2008. On the pandemic front, Ireland will join Austria and the Netherlands and reimpose COVID-19 restrictions, as the Irish government urged citizens’ to work from home and forced bars and restaurants to close by midnight. New restrictions are also expected to be announced in Spain, Italy, and Germany in the coming days.
Negative sentiment can be spotted on Wall Street as investors weighed strong earnings reports from major retailers against lingering inflation concerns and continued digesting recent economic data. Housing starts unexpectedly dropped in October, which may indicate that rising costs of building materials continue to hurt the sector. On the other hand, building permits were up and retail sales and industrial production released yesterday pointed to a robust economic recovery. Meanwhile, Lowe’s and Target posted better than expected quarterly results. Cisco Systems and Nvidia will release their quarterly figures after the closing bell.
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Create account Try a demo Download mobile app Download mobile appWTI crude price dropped over 3% and Brent crude futures fell more than 2% to around $80 a barrel after the news that the US SPR reserves reportedly fell by 3.2M barrels. Earlier EIA report showed a surprise drop in US crude oil inventories and a bigger than expected draw in gasoline stockpiles. Elsewhere gold prices jumped above $1,865 an ounce and silver is trading above $25.00 an ounce as investors bought precious metals as a hedge against rising inflation. Limiting gains in gold is a strong US dollar as markets are currently expecting an increase in the Fed funds rate in June 2022, followed by two more hikes in September and December.
The downward movement on the cryptocurrency market has clearly slowed down. Bitcoin is currently testing $ 60,000, while Ethereum broke above $ 4,200.
US2000 index did not manage to break above the resistance at 2445 points, which triggered a downward correction. The index deepened its downward move today and tested the support at 2360 points, which coincides with the upper limit of broad consolidation. If the price remains above, a continuation of the upward trend is possible. On the other hand, should a break lower occur, downward move may accelerate towards the lower limit of the ascending channel. Source: xStation5
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