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Wall Street stocks showed mixed performance, with the Dow Jones up 0.7%, the S&P 500 up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq down 0.2%. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose 3 basis points to 4.64%, while oil prices fell 1.3% to $74.50 per barrel.
Asian stocks closed mixed, with the Nikkei up 0.8%, Shenzhen up 0.2%, and the Hang Seng down 0.4%. The ASX 200 reversed its weekly trend, falling 0.6%, dragged down by materials and consumer discretionary sectors.
European stocks opened quietly but maintained positive momentum at close, with the FTSE closing up 0.2%, while the CAC and DAX both gained about 0.7%.
The U.S. released weekly initial jobless claims data, which missed expectations. Initial claims rose to 223,000, against a forecast of 220,000, while continuing claims increased to 1.899 million, versus an expected 1.866 million. The dollar broadly weakened, falling to a new daily low of 1.4372. Movements remained limited, with USD/JPY sliding to 156.11 lows, GBP/USD hitting a new high of 1.2336, but other major currency pairs failed to break new ground.
President Trump gave a virtual speech at the World Economic Forum, stating he would ask OPEC to lower oil prices and demand lower interest rates. On trade, he mentioned deficits with the EU and Canada. Other comments included his plan to “rapidly obliterate” U.S. debt and meet with Putin soon. The dollar briefly strengthened after the initial comments, with AUD/USD touching earlier lows of 0.62555, NZD/USD dropping to 0.5646, and EUR/USD hitting lows of 1.0372. However, this trend quickly reversed, with the Aussie rebounding to highs of 0.62995, NZD/USD rising to 0.56855, and EUR/USD and GBP/USD reaching highs of 1.04375 and 1.23755 respectively. USD/CAD fell to lows of 1.4335 in this move, while USD/JPY slid to 155.87.
Here are the latest mid-market rates:
Currency Pair | Mid-market Rate |
---|---|
NZD/USD | 0.5677 |
NZD/AUD | 0.9028 |
NZD/JPY | 88.58 |
NZD/CNY | 4.1331 |
NZD/EUR | 0.5450 |
NZD/GBP | 0.4595 |
NZD/HKD | 4.4202 |
NZD/SGD | 0.7689 |
Char of the day