Market Update

European stocks finished higher on Friday for the fourth consecutive session, extending their weekly gains and hitting a new all-time high amid an improvement in risk sentiment among investors. The STOXX Europe 600 index surged by 4.98 points or 1.09% to close at a record 461.51 points. For the week, …

The number of crude oil and natural gas rigs in the United States increased for the fourth consecutive week, data showed on Friday. This is the first time that the total rig count registers four straight weekly rises since May. The total rig count rose by seven to 491 in …

The Canadian Dollar (CAD) is showing a mixed but mostly negative performance against the U.S. Dollar (USD) on Friday after data showed a better than expected slump in Canadian retail sales. In addition, with improving daily performance by oil futures, the Canadian is gaining relative support as a commodity currency …

The U.S. Dollar (USD) is trading higher on Friday, maintaining a mostly positive performance against other currencies, in the absence of major economic data in the United States, other than the IHS Markit PMI. The flash U.S. Composite Output Index declined to 59.7 in July, down from 63.7 in June, …

Wall Street’s major indexes opened higher on Friday, boosted by big-cap technology stocks and risk flows continuing to dominate the markets, with the focus shifting to business activity data later in the day. The S&P 500 is up 0.45% today at 4,387, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.6% …

Reuters reported on Friday that European Central Bank policymakers do not expect to decide on potential changes to the pandemic emergency purchase program (PEPP) at its September meeting, citing three sources familiar with the matter. Sources also indicated that a decision on PEPP would likely be made in October or …

The World Health Organization said Friday (July 23) that all countries should cooperate to find out the origin of the coronavirus a day after China rejected the proposed scope of a second phase of the investigation. In response to a question about China’s refusal, said Tarik Yasarvic, a spokesman for …

Oil prices fell from the level of $ 74 a barrel on Friday, July 23. Still, it is on track to end the week with little change, after rebounding from a sharp decline on Monday, supported by expectations that supply will remain tight despite the recovery in demand. Oil prices …

The US dollar is on course to close the week slightly higher after a few days of volatility when it was hit by a shift in risk appetite, with the market now focused on the US Federal Reserve meeting next week. The dollar index rose 0.2% during the week and …

GBP/USD was struggling a little after the UK’s mixed retail sales figures and was trading close to daily lows, around 1.3700. GBP/USD was fairly unwavering after UK data, showing that Core Retail Sales rose 0.5% in June compared to 0.4% expected and -1.3% previously. On a yearly basis, UK retail …