China’s central bank cut its five-year loan prime rate by 15 basis points
Wall Street stocks extended losses overnight, albeit the selling pressure has eased following a dramatic sell-off witnessed a day earlier. The S&P 500 fell 0.58% after a 4% plunge on Wednesday. The Dow Jones dropped 0.75% and the Nasdaq Composite gave up just 0.26% following a decline by 4.7% a day earlier. In individual stocks, shares of Cisco fell 13.7% as investors digested lower-than-expected quarterly revenue growth. On the positive side, Synopsis stocks added more than 10% amid solid earnings.
As the selling pressure continued to ease ahead of the weekend, Asian stocks advanced on Friday after China’s central bank cut its five-year loan prime rate by 15 basis points against the backdrop of Covid disruptions. The Shanghai Composite closed 1.6% higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 2.96%, South Korean Kospi gained 1.8%, and Australia’s S&P ASX/200 index increased 1.15%.
In Europe, equities opened higher today, as another turbulent trading week comes to a close. The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 1.2% in early deals, with US stock index futures pointing to a higher open on Wall Street. Still, European markets are still on course for a negative week amid persistent geopolitical and economic concerns. Earlier today, ECB policymakers Muller and Kazaks both hinted at a July rate hike amid the need to fight elevated inflation.
As for currencies, the dollar stays pressured on Friday after a solid dip witnessed on Thursday. The USD index is now clinging to the 103.00 mark, refraining from a deeper retreat for the time being despite some improvement in risk sentiment. So far, dollar’s dynamics looks like a modest consolidation after a rally towards multi-year highs. In other words, the bullish trend remains intact despite the waning safe-haven demand for the US currency.
