Stocks down ahead of US jobs report after Wall Street selloff - 6.5.2022

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, rose 0.8% Thursday while the US Labor Department reported more Americans applied for initial jobless claims last week than expected as their number rose from last week.

Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD reversed their climbing as federal statistics office Destatis reported German factory orders fell more than expected in March. Both euro and Pound are lower against the Dollar currently. AUD/USD reversed its climbing yesterday while USD/JPY reversed its sliding with both the Australian dollar and yen lower against the Greenback currently.

US stock indexes are down currently after US stock market rebound reversed on Thursday amid disappointing reports from e-commerce companies. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded daily losses in the range of 3.1% to 5.0% on Thursday led by tech shares while all 11 sectors of the SP 500 fell.

European stock markets are retreating today after closing lower Thursday, led by travel shares. Bank of England raised interest rates to their highest level in 13 years and forecast contraction of UK economy in the final three months of the year, citing expected large hike in household energy bills in October. Asian stocks are mostly falling today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index leading losses.

Brent is steady presently. Prices dipped on Thursday while the OPEC+, which comprises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and their allies, agreed to raise June production by 432,000 barrels per day, in line with an existing plan to unwind curbs made in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hammered demand. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 0.7%. Brent crude slid 0.4% to $109.73 a barrel on Thursday.