Investors are now awaiting the Fed’s Jackson Hole gathering
Wall Street stocks finished marginally higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes closing at fresh all-time highs. Investors are now awaiting the Fed’s Jackson Hole gathering. Powell is scheduled to speak on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, the S&P 500 edged up 0.15%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.52%.
Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan just below the flat-line. At the end of the previous week, the index fell to its lowest in 2021. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to their highest in 1.5 weeks. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.74% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.13% to 25,615.67. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was down less than 0.1%.
In Europe, edged higher on Wednesday, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index rising 0.1% in early deals. On the data front, the headline German IFO business climate index worsened to 99.4 in August versus last month’s 100.8 and the consensus estimates of 100.4. Meanwhile, the ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said the central bank could again revise upwards macroeconomic projections for Eurozone in a few days.
Against this backdrop, the dollar pared light intraday gains in recent trading as the euro climbed back to the flat-line after the latest comments from the ECB official. EURUSD derives support from the 1.1730 area to recover to the 1.1750 region. Still, the common currency lacks upside momentum to regain upside bias as the greenback remains steady in general.
Elsewhere, Brent crude gained nearly 10% since the beginning of the week. Oil prices regained the $70 handle but failed to extend the ascent as the bullish momentum has waned on Wednesday. It looks like traders proceeded to profit-taking as risk sentiment started to deteriorate. However, it looks like the downside potential is limited at this stage. Later in the day, the EIA weekly report could affect the market mood.
