SHANGHAI, Jun 24 —This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.
The euro slid across the board on Thursday as weaker-than-expected German and French PMI data showed that the euro zone economy is struggling to gain traction, prompting traders to trim bets on big rate-hike moves from the European Central Bank.
The dollar, on the other hand, rose against a major currency basket, as risk appetite soured, with safe-haven U.S. Treasuries in demand amid rising recession prospects.
Higher prices in the euro zone meant demand for manufactured goods fell in June at the fastest rate since May 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P Global’s headline factory Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to a near two- year low of 52.0 from 54.6.
Stock futures slipped on Thursday evening as Wall Street looked to grind out a rare positive week in what has been a rough first half of the year.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 64 points, or 0.2%. Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures lost nearly 0.2%.
The moves in futures come as the stock market appears to have found some stability this week, at least for the short term. After an afternoon rally on Thursday, the S&P 500 is up 3.3% for the week, while the Nasdaq composite is up 4% and the Dow is 2.6%.
All three averages are looking to snap three-week losing streaks.
Oil prices dropped by nearly $2 a barrel on Thursday after another round of remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell fanned worries U.S. interest rate hikes would slow economic growth.
Brent crude futures settled at $110.05 a barrel, falling$1.69, or 1.5%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at $104.27 a barrel, down $1.92, or 1.8%.
Gold gave up initial gains and edged lower on Thursday as the dollar regained momentum after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell doubled down on the central bank’s policy tightening aimed at taming inflation.
Spot gold fell 0.8% to $1,822.64 per ounce by 2:28 p.m.m ET (1828 GMT). U.S. gold futures settled down 0.5% to $1,829.80.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.8% lower, with autos slumping 3.6% to lead the losses as most sectors and major bourses slipped into the red.
