- BoE left monetary policy unchanged
- US Stocks rise, S&P and Nasdaq hit new ATH
- Biden signs infrastructure deal
- US weekly Jobless claims rose unexpectedly
European indices finished today's session higher following upbeat economic data and dovish comments by Bank of England Governor Bailey. German ifo Business Climate index jumped to 101.8, a level not seen since November 2018. Meantime, the Bank of England left monetary policy unchanged, saying the recent spike in consumer prices is expected to be temporary and reassuring investors of its support for the economy. It was quite a surprise as investors expected slight changes in the narrative regarding the current monetary policy, as was the case with the Fed or the Bank of Canada. However, this has not happened and the QE program is not being tapered at the moment, which has led to a significant weakening of the pound. DAX rose 0.86%, CAC40 added 1.20% and FTSEE 100 finished 0.51% higher.
Positive moods prevails also in the US where S&P 500 and the Nasdaq jumped to fresh record highs after President Joe Biden said he reached an infrastructure deal with a bipartisan group of senators. Weekly jobless claims fell to 411K from upwardly revised 418k from last week, while analysts expected a drop to 380k. This means that Americans are still not looking for work and prefer to receive government aid. Theoretically, this may change with the further removal of pandemic support, although there is still a long way to go before the situation on the labor market will return to normal. Meanwhile Treasury Secretary Yellen remarked that inflation in the US should retreat by year-end from its current elevated level as supply bottlenecks get worked out. After today's statements from Williams, Harker and Barkin, it can also be seen that the Fed still does not want to announce changes in the current policy too early. Bank stocks move higher ahead of the Fed’s annual bank stress test results, which will be released today after the US session. Banks had to stop paying dividends and were not allowed to carry out buybacks during the pandemic. These results should give them the green light to eventually raise payouts.
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Create account Try a demo Download mobile app Download mobile appWTI crude rose 0.1% and is trading above $73.00 a barrel, while Brent is trading nearly 0.2% higher around $75.35 a barrel. Elsewhere gold is trading flat near $ 1,776.00 / oz, while silver rose 0.45 %, and is trading slightly below $ 26.00 / oz.
Natural gas (NATGAS) price broke above major resistance at 3.4 - level not seen since January 2019 amid rising demand for air-conditioning. Meanwhile, working gas in storage was 2,482 Bcf as of Friday, June 18, 2021, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net increase of 55 Bcf from the previous week. If current sentiment prevails then the next target for bulls is located around 3.70. Source: xStation5
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