Equities pause after SP500 ends at record - 30.4.2021

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, added 0.02% Thursday as US Labor Department reported 553 thousand Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last week, down from 566 thousand the previous week.

EUR/USD reversed its climbing Thursday while GBP/USD extended gains as German consumer price inflation grew to 2.1% in April, exceeding the European Central Bank’s target of “close to but below 2%” for the second consecutive month. Euro is lower against the Dollar currently while Pound is still on the rise. AUD/USD reversed its climbing while USD/JPY reversed sliding with both yen and Australian dollar higher against the Greenback currently.

Futures on three main US stock indexes are down currently ahead of Bureau of Economic Analysis Personal Consumption Expenditures and personal income reports at 14:30 CET today after a bullish session yesterday on positive data. US economy grew 6.4% in the first quarter while initial jobless claims for the week ending April 24 fell 13,000. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded similar daily gains int the range of 0.2% to 0.7%.

European stock indexes are mixed today after closing lower Thursday with bank shares leading gains while autos led losses. Asian indexes are mostly down today with Hang Seng leading losses as China's factory activity fell more than expected in April.