In Asian Equity Markets stocks retreated on Thursday, brushing off an upbeat Wall Street lead as the Delta coronavirus variant’s spread darkened the regional mood while a South Korean interest rate hike put the focus on the global central bank outlook. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.60 percent. Chinese bluechips fell 1.47 percent and Hong Kong was down 1.32 percent, as a rally in tech names ran out of steam. The Australian benchmark lost 0.7 percent. Japan’s Nikkei was little changed having spent the day flickering either side of flat.
In Currency Markets the dollar held near a one-week low on Thursday amid optimism the Delta coronavirus variant won’t derail a global economic recovery, with investors now eyeing the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium for clues on the timing of a tapering of monetary stimulus. The dollar index edged up 0.05 percent to 92.867 after falling to 92.801 overnight for the first time since Aug. 17. Against the euro, the dollar was little changed at $1.17685 on Thursday and it was also largely flat at 109.975 yen. The Australian dollar lost 0.07 percent to $0.7269.
In US Equity Markets stocks rose on Wednesday, with investors more optimistic a day after the House of Representatives passed the $3.5 trillion budget framework and a top health official expressed confidence in fighting COVID-19. The Dow rose 0.11 percent, to 35,405.5, the S&P 500 gained 0.22 percent, to 4,496.19 and the Nasdaq Composite added percent 0.15 percent, to 15,041.86. Chipmakers Nvidia Corp and Applied Materials rose 1.9 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively, and along with mega-cap growth stocks Alphabet Inc, Tesla Inc and Facebook Inc, provided the biggest boost to the Nasdaq.
In Commodities Markets oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday for a third session of gains, after U.S. data showed fuel demand climbed to its highest since the start of the pandemic. Brent crude rose 1.7 percent to settle at $72.25 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 1.2 percent to settle at $68.36 a barrel. Spot gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,788.17 per ounce. U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,789.80. Silver was little changed $23.85 per ounce, while platinum fell 1 percent to $986.35. Palladium lost 1.5 percent to $2,393.22.
In European Equity Markets stocks ended unchanged on Wednesday as losses in Italian utilities outweighed gains in travel and bank stocks, while global markets were range-bound ahead of a policy update from the U.S. Federal Reserve this week. The region-wide STOXX 600 index closed largely unchanged at 471.84 points after a record close on Wall Street. The European benchmark itself was just less than 1 percent away from its peak. Travel and leisure stocks gained 1.8 percent to hit their highest level in almost two weeks, while banks rose 1.8 percent. German stocks fell 0.3 percent.
In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose to almost two-week highs on Wednesday ahead of a speech later in the week by Fed Chair Jerome Powell that will be scoured for any new clues on when the U.S. central bank is likely to begin paring bond purchases. In choppy trading, benchmark 10-year yields gained six basis points to 1.349 percent, the highest since Aug. 13. Breakeven inflation rates on five-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities also rose to 2.53 percent, from 2.49 percent late on Tuesday. Five-year note yields rose three basis points on the day at 0.824 percent in the secondary market.