US futures were slightly lower in early pre-market deals while USD stays on the defensive
Wall Street stocks for a third consecutive session on Friday as worries about recession and inflation abated somehow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced nearly 1%, the S&P 500 jumped 1.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.88%. For the week, the Dow gained nearly 3%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite added about 4.3% and 4.7%, respectively. Furthermore, all of the major indices saw their best month since November 2020. The data on Friday showed that the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index came in at 51.5 for July to show an improvement from the June all-time low of 50.
Asian equity markets were mostly higher on Monday, albeit finished with just modest gains. The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.21% after the data over the weekend showed that China’s non-manufacturing PMI was 53.8 in July, compared to 54.7 in June. In Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 added 0.69% ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy decision on Tuesday, where the central bankA is expected to announce another 0.5% interest rate hike.
In Europe, stocks were little changed to start the day, the week and the month, with risk appetite rather tepid. US futures were slightly lower in early pre-market deals. On the data front, retail sales in Germany contracted by 1.6% on a monthly basis in June versus the expected gain of 0.2% and +0.6% last. On an annualized basis, retail sales came in at -8.8% versus -8.0% expected. However, the data was already factored into the disappointing second-quarter GDP report revealed last week (Germany’s economy stagnated in the second quarter after posting 0.8% growth in January-March).
Meanwhile, the US dollar stays under pressure on Monday, struggling to attract demand at lower levels. The USDJPY pair is the only notable mover so far today, holding around mid-June lows after a dip to 132.00 earlier in the day. Should the prices fail to hold above this mark in the near term, the greenback may target the ascending 20-DMA last seen nearly one year ago. As such, the bearish potential looks limited while above the ley moving average.
