The dollar looks mixed while the euro remains on the offensive after the ECB meeting
Another sell-off in technology shares sent Wall Street stocks to the fourth loss in five days on Thursday. The S&P 500 dropped as much as 1.75%, the Nasdaq 100 lost nearly 2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.45%. Investor sentiment deteriorated as odds of another round of fiscal stimulus for the US economy dropped following a partisan split over a slimmed-down package proposed by Republicans. Besides, fresh data showed that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits remained high last week.
Asian stocks were mixed following a sell-off of technology shares on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.73%, South Korea’s Kospi was nearly unchanged, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.83%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.78%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.78%.
In Europe, equities opened lower on Friday as tense negotiations between the U.K. and the European Union remain in market focus. The EU urged the U.K. to abandon its plan to renege on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and threatened legal action. In turn, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has vowed to press ahead with its Internal Market Bill.
Meanwhile, the dollar looks mixed while the euro remains on the offensive after the ECB offered a bright economic outlook on Thursday. EURUSD briefly jumped above 1.19 in a knee-jerk reaction to the meeting but failed to preserve gains and retreated eventually. On Friday, the pair is challenging the 1.1850 intermediate resistance ahead of the US CPI data due later today.
Elsewhere, gold prices remain flat, struggling to break above $1,950 after a short-lived rally to $1,966 seen on Thursday. The precious metal struggles for direction as the dollar looks mixed, with risk sentiment being unstable. From the technical point of view, as long as the prices hold above the $1,900 handle, downside risks are limited. So, the bullion could resume the ascent after the current consolidation and regain the $2,000 handle in the medium term.
