By IFCMarkets
US stock market ended lower on Friday amid reports US coronavirus cases increased. All three US benchmarks however managed to record a weekly gain. The S&P 500 lost 1.7% to 2972.37, booking a 0.6% gain for the week. Dow Jones industrial retreated 1.0% to 25864.78. The Nasdaq ended 1.9% lower at 8575.62. The dollar weakening continued despite a better-than-expected jobs report from the Labor Department showing the US created 273,000 new jobs in February. 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, fell 0.6% to 96.02 and is sharply lower currently. Futures on stock indexes point to lower openings today.
European stocks ended sharply lower on Friday. Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD cotninued climbing on Friday with both pairs sharply higher currently. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 3.6%. The DAX 30 dropped 3.4% to 11541.87 Friday. France’s CAC 40 plunged 4.1% and UK’s FTSE 100 slumped 3.6% to 6580.61.
Asian stock indices are sharply lower today. Nikkei sank 5.4% to 19632.5 as yen accelerated its climbing against the dollar despite a downward revision of Q4 GDP in final reading. China’s markets are falling : the Shanghai Composite Index is down 3% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is 4.6% lower. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index plummeted 7.3% despite reversal in Australian dollar’s climb against the greenback.
Brent futures prices are in retreat after a more than 25% plunge this morning following weekend reports Saudi Arabia planned to boost crude-oil production to between 10 million and 11 million barrels per day. Prices fell on Friday as OPEC meeting ended in disarray following Russia’s rejection of a plan for additional output cuts: Brent for May settlement dropped 9.4% to $45.7 a barrel Friday, plunging 8.9% for the week.
Gold prices are extending gains today. Gold for April delivery added 0.3% to $1672.40 on Friday.
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