The greenback has steadied after a widespread sell-off seen yesterday
The US stock market slipped lower Wednesday, as investors monitored fiscal stimulus talks in Washington, with quarterly disappointing results from Netflix Inc. adding to the downbeat tone. U.S. President Donald Trump accused Democrats of being unwilling to craft an acceptable compromise on fresh stimulus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.2%, the S&P 500 fell 0.22%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.27%.
In Asia, stocks followed Wall Street lower on Thursday as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told fellow Republicans he warned the White House not to seal a relief deal before the election. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.31%. Stock indexes in Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Seoul retreated.
European stocks followed suit and opened lower on Thursday after the U.S. accused foreign rivals of election interference. In particular, Washington accused Iran and Russia of interfering in the upcoming election. Also, there are negative developments on the coronavirus front. Over the last two weeks, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Belgium have the highest infection rate per capita. As a result, the Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.9% while the German DAX lost over 1%.
Meanwhile, the greenback has steadied after a widespread sell-off seen yesterday. EURUSD climbed to mid-September highs in the 1.1880 area and started to show some signs of a bearish correction while still holding well above the 1.18 handle. Later in the day, the pair could be affected by US jobless claims data while the developments surrounding the US stimulus package remain in market focus.
Elsewhere, gold prices encountered resistance around $1,930 on Wednesday and failed to extend the local ascent despite dollar weakness. Today, the precious metal came back under the selling pressure though holding above $1,910. A bearish extension could bring the prices below the $1,900 handle which would be a negative scenario for the short-term technical picture.
