Positive risk sentiment is also supported by the elevated oil prices
Wall Street stocks wavered during the session before finishing in positive territory overnight to notch the third bullish session in a row. On the data front, US job openings rose to near-record highs in December while the manufacturing PMI ISM fell to 57.6, the lowest level since November 2020. Meanwhile, the Fed’s Bullard said he would support a rate hike at the March meeting and prefer a hike in May. As such, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.78%, the S&P 500 added 0.69%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.75%.
In Asia, most of the markets were closed for the Lunar New Year. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 1.17% after RBA Governor Lowe reiterated that the bank’s decision to end its bond purchase program does not mean that an increase in the rate is imminent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.68% while the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan finished 0.37% higher.
European equity markets opened higher on Wednesday due to dip buyers after the pan-European Stoxx 600 index finished January with the deepest losses since October 2020. The regional index added 0.6% in early deals. Positive risk sentiment is also supported by the elevated oil prices, with Brent crude staying just below the $90 figure. Meanwhile, US stock index futures turned mixed in recent trading.
In currencies, the dollar keeps losing ground as US 10-year Treasury yields are hovering around their lowest levels in a week. The greenback is falling for the third straight session on mixed economic data and an upbeat risk tone in the financial markets. As such, EURUSD keeps recovering from long-term lows, approaching the 1.1300 barrier, followed by the 20-DMA, currently at 1.1315. However, it looks like the common currency may need an extra driver to overcome this local threshold in the near term.
