Market Update

European stocks closed lower on Wednesday, after rising for two consecutive sessions, despite concerns about the Federal Reserve raising rates soon to combat inflationary pressures eased by Chair Jerome Powell. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell by 3.32 points, or 0.73%, to finish at 453.10 points. The French CAC40 index …

The U.S. Dollar (USD) has recovered some of its losses on Wednesday, after rising earlier in the Asian and European sessions. The Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback’s performance against a basket of six major international currencies, is down by 0.04% 91.72. Earlier today, the index fell as low …

Crude oil inventories in the United States declined by 7.6 million barrels last week, data showed on Wednesday. For the week ended June 18, gasoline stockpiles dropped by 2.9 million barrels, while distillate inventories increased by 1.8 million, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

New home sales in the United States declined in May by 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 769,000 units, official data by the U.S. Census Bureau showed on Wednesday. On an annual basis, sales increased by 9.2% last month. The number of homes available for sale by the …

The business activity in the US service sector continued to expand at a strong pace in June but lost momentum compared to May with the Markit Services PMI declining to 64.8 from 70.4 70 figure was expected. The Composite PMI fell to 64.9 in June from 68.7 in May.

The IHS Markit’s Manufacturing PMI for the US rose to 62.6 in June from 62.1 in May to a record high. This reading came in better than the market forecast of 61.4 and revaled that the business activity in the manufacturing sector continued to expand at an unprecedented pace.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies are considering boosting the group’s collective output by some 500,000 barrels per day when they meet next week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, according to Reuters

Retail Sales in Canada fell by 5.7% on a monthly basis in April, the data published by Statistics Canada showed on Wednesday. This reading followed March’s increase of 3.6% and came in worse than the market expectation for a contraction of 5%.

Gold prices rose on Wednesday, June 23, after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell pledged to keep interest rates near zero for some time, bringing the dollar to near its lowest level in a week. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,782.46 an ounce, and gold futures in the United States …

Oil topped $75 a barrel on Wednesday, hitting its highest since late 2018 after an industry report on crude inventories in the United States bolstered views of tight supplies in the market as travel grew in Europe and North America. Two market sources told Reuters that the American Petroleum Institute …