Equities subdued as US stocks closed mixed - 5.9 日

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 0.1% on Wednesday.

Both GBP/USD and EUR/USD slowed their sliding yesterday while federal statistics office Destatis reported German industrial production declined in March. Both euro and Pound are lower against the dollar currently while the Bank of England is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged today at 13:00 CET. USD/JPY continued its climbing while AUD/USD continued its sliding on Wednesday with both the yen and the Australian dollar lower against the Greenback currently still.

The US stock index futures are lower currently ahead of US Unemployment Claims report due at 14:30 CET today. The three main US stock indexes ended mixed on Wednesday in a range from -0.23% to 0.44%.

European stock indexes futures are mixed currently after closing higher on Wednesday led by food and beverage stocks. Asian stock indexes futures are mixed today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index leading gains buoyed by technology shares after Chinese data showed a substantially bigger than expected increase in Chinese imports through April, indicating strength in local demand.

Brent is extending gains presently. Prices ended higher yesterday as the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported US crude stockpiles fell by 1.4 million barrels last week to 459.5 million barrels. The draw was attributed to stronger US refining activity as refinery utilization rates rose by 1 percentage point to 88.5% of total capacity. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 0.8% and is higher currently. Brent crude added 0.5% to $83.58 a barrel on Wednesday.