European benchmarks are trading higher on the final trading day of the week. A vast array of the blue chips indices from the Old Continent is set to add to this week’s gains. Russian companies are outperforming peers from the region as both MOEX and RTS indices are trading way above yesterday’s closing prices. On the other hand, weakness could be spotted among Polish and Austrian firms as WIG20 and ATX were the only benchmarks to finish today’s trading lower.
On Wall Street moods are good as well as all three major stock indices are trading higher. Dow Jones is the weakest of three as it is trading “just” 0.5% higher at press time. Moreover, it should be noted that S&P 500 broke to the new intraday ATH being led by miners and energy stocks.
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Create account Try a demo Download mobile app Download mobile appPowell’s speech, which was the event of a day, turned out to be rather dovish. The central banker reinforced message that the gradual rate hike path is an appropriate approach but at the same time noted that future hikes will be dependant on the strength of the US economy. However, Powell expressed that he is confident the Federal Reserve will manage to address any shifts in the inflation outlook properly. In the aftermath of his speech we saw USD deepening declines and stocks pushing higher.
The US dollar is in fact the worst performing currency from the G10 group today being followed by the Japanese yen. On the other hand, we are witnessing significant gains among Antipodean currencies after turmoil in the Australian politics led to the PM leaving his post. Taking a look at the EM currencies we can see that the Turkish lira is advancing today. The USDTRY currency pair trades close to 6.000 handle.
As it is usually the case with the USD weakening we are observing significant gains among precious metals and commodities as a whole. However, wheat prices are under pressure today. WTI oil managed to break above the $69 handle while Brent trades a above $76.
In the upcoming week investors will focus mainly on the inflation readings from the US and Europe as they may hint possible future monetary moves. Last but not least, the main event of the Jackson Hole symposium (Powell speech) is already behind us but it does not mean the event has come to an end. Over the weekend other prominent person will deliver their speeches, including BoC Governor Poloz.
