- Lockdowns in Europe weight on market sentiment
- Escalating EU-China tensions
- US dollar resumes rally
European indices managed to partially erase earlylosses however still finished today's session mostly lower as worsening pandemic situation, new lockdowns and tensions with China weighed on market sentiment. The German government extended lockdown until April 18th and delayed reopening plans due to the third wave of infections. Meanwhile, the EU, together with the US, the UK and Canada imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang. DAX 30 rose 0.03% FTSE 100 fell 0.40%, CAC 40 finished 0.39% lower.
US indices are trading lower as investors digest Fed Chair Powell and Treasury Secretary Yellen's first joint hearing on the CARES Act before Congress. Fed Chair noticed the recovery gained steam but is far from complete. Powell repeated that any inflation rise this year will likely be a "one-off," but stressed the central bank has the tools to ensure inflation is kept well anchored to its 2% target. Yellen noted that while there are signs of recovery, the country is still down nearly 10 million jobs from its pre-pandemic peak. Still worsening situation in Europe prompted a selloff in materials, industrials, and financial stocks that have benefitted recently from an improved economic outlook. The U.S. 10-year yield remained at one-week lows near 1.65%, though it had dipped to the 1.30%-to-1.40% level for support. Meanwhile, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases questioned AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine trial data, a day after results from an American trial were released.
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Create account Try a demo Download mobile app Download mobile appWTI crude fell more than 6.2% and is trading slightly below $57.73 a barrel, while Brent is trading nerly 6.0% lower around $60.70 a barrel. Traders now await API data later in the day, with markets anticipating a 900,000 barrel fall in US crude inventories last week. Elsewhere gold fell nearly 0.7% to $ 1,726.00 / oz, while silver was trading 2.8 % lower near $ 25.10 / oz as a stronger dollar drove flows away from the precious metals.
NZDUSD pair drops fell nearly 2%, due to the actions of the New Zealand government, which has taken steps to cool down the housing market. Technically looking at the NZDUSD chart on the D1 interval, the key support was broken at 0.7100, which, in line with the classic rules of technical analysis, may herald trend reversal. The chart below shows a head and shoulders formation.
NZDUSD, D1 interval. Source: xStation
