US stocks rose on Wednesday, lifted by strong quarterly earnings from Goldman Sachs and positive developments on the coronavirus vaccine front. Moderna announced that participants in an early trial of its vaccine candidate developed antibodies. Goldman Sachs shares rose more than 5% in a knee-jerk reaction to quarterly results that showed the bank’s revenue and profit exceeded analysts’ estimates. Shares pared gains to 1/35% by the end of the session. As a result, the S&P 500 rose 0.9%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.9% as well, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%.
Today in Asia, stocks corrected lower as investor sentiment has deteriorated. The Nikkei 225 in Japan declined by 0.75% as Tokyo reportedly found a record of 286 new coronavirus cases in the latest update. The Shanghai Composite index plunged by 4.5% despite China’s economy grew 3.2% in annual terms in April-June, after a 6.8% contraction in the previous quarter.
European stock markets edged lower as well, shrugging off Chinese growth data. Investors turned more cautious ahead of the latest monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank, although the bank is not expected to announce any policy changes this time. The pan-European Stoxx 600 lost 1% by mid-morning.
Elsewhere, dollar demand picked up on Thursday as risk-off tone reemerged in the global financial markets. As a result, EURUSD retreated below the 1.14 handle as the euro shifted into corrective mode amid profit-taking. A daily close below this level will mark some deterioration in the short-term technical picture for the pair. Later in the day, EURUSD could be affected by the outcome of the ECB meeting as well as by the US retail sales data.
Gold prices turned marginally lower on Thursday, struggling to challenge fresh long-term highs registered last week around $1,820. On the other hand, the precious metal stays above the $1,800 handle, suggesting corrective risks are limited at this stage. As long as this level represents support, the technical outlook for the bullion remains positive.
