Equities dip after Wall Street ended the week up - 28.3.2022

The Dollar strengthening continues 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, added 0.1% on Friday despite University of Michigan data showing US Consumer Sentiment hit 11-year low in March.

EUR/USD joined GBP/USD’s continued sliding Friday after the Ifo Institute report German business sentiment declined steeper than expected. Both Pound and euro are lower against the Dollar currently. AUD/USD halted its climbing Friday while USD/JPY reversed its advancing with the yen lower against the Greenback currently and Australian dollar higher.

Futures on US equity benchmarks are down currently ahead of the US goods trade balance report today at 14:30 CET. US stocks ended mixed on Friday: the three main US stock benchmarks recorded daily returns ranging from -0.2% to 0.5% with tech stocks sliding while Dow, SP 500 eked out gains.

European stock indexes are mixed currently after ending marginally higher on Friday led by oil and gas shares. Asian indexes are mostly down today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index defying the regional trend while the Bank of Japan stuck to its super-loose policy by offering to buy as many bonds as needed to keep 10-year yields under 0.25%.

Brent is edging down today over lower fuel demand expectations in China after the financial hub of 26 million people - Shanghai launched a two-stage lockdown to contain a surge in COVID-19 infections, ordering all firms to suspend manufacturing or have people work remotely. Prices rose on Friday after reports Yemen's Houthis launched missile attacks on Saudi Aramco’s fuel distribution station in Jeddah. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 1.4% but is lower currently. Brent crude gained 1.4% to $120.65 a barrel on Friday.