Stocks mixed with yield worries’ unabated - 5.3.2021

The Dollar strengthening is intact currently . The live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, surged 0.7% Thursday despite US Labor Department report 745 thousand Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last week, up from 736 thousand the previous week.

Both GBP/USD and EUR/USD accelerated their sliding Thursday as euro-zone retail spending fell sharply in January. Both pairs are lower currently. AUD/USD accelerated its retreating Thursday while USD/JPY accelerated gaining with the dynamics intact currently as Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said “We need to keep the yield curve stably low”.

Futures on three main US stock indexes are lower currently ahead of non- farm Employment report at 14:30 CET today. Wall Street ended solidly lower yesterday despite Census Bureau report new orders for US-made goods increased more than expected in January. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded daily losses ranging from 1.1% to 2.1%.

European stock indexes are mixed today after closing lower Thursday led by basic resources shares. Asian indexes are mostly lower today with Australia’s All Ordinaries ASX 200 Index leading losses.