China reported its economy expanded at a 7.9% annual rate in the last quarter
Wall Street stocks were little changed overnight. Powell said that the central bank would not be altering its easy monetary policy for some time. He also noted that that inflation will likely remain elevated, but eventually moderate, reinforcing the central bank’s position that rising inflation is a temporary impact from the recovering economy. On the data front, US producer prices surged in June to the largest annual gain in more than 10-1/2 years. The S&P 500 eked out a 0.1% gain, the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added just 0.1%.
Today in Asia, equities were mixed, taking their cue from a wobbly day of trading on Wall Street. China reported its economy expanded at a 7.9% annual rate in the last quarter, down from 18.3% in January-March. In June, industrial output rose 8.3 percent and retail sales grew 12.1 percent, both edging down from the month before. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1.15%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.26% while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.62%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.08%, while the Shanghai Composite inched up 1.01%.
European stocks mostly fell on Thursday while U.S. equity futures were mixed as investors digested dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Elsewhere, the European Central Bank Governing Council member Francois Villeroy warned earlier today that the biggest threat to recovery for companies is labor shortages. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.3% in early trade.
Meanwhile, the dollar stays under pressure following a dovish message from Powell. EURUSD managed to get back above 1.1800 and was last seen challenging the 1.1850 area. A decisive break above this area would pave the way towards the 20-DMA, today at 1.1870.
