Macro Roundup (Feb 4)

SHANGHAI, Feb 4 (SMM) — This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

The dollar traded near a two-month high versus the euro on Wednesday as investors looked to a widening disparity between the strength of the U.S. and Europe’s pandemic recoveries.

The view was bolstered by moves in Washington toward fast-tracking more stimulus spending that contrasted with concerns about extended European lockdowns and expectations for a decline in euro zone growth this quarter.

The dollar was little changed at $1.2038 per euro early in the Asian session, after strengthening to $1.20115 overnight for the first time since Dec. 1.

The broader dollar index was mostly flat at 91.16 after rising to a two-month high of 91.283 in the previous session.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to close at 3,830.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 36.12 points to end its trading day at 30,723.60 while the Nasdaq Composite dipped slightly to close at 13,610.54.

Oil prices rose almost 2% on Wednesday and hovered near their highest levels in about a year, after government data showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell to their lowest since March, while OPEC+ maintained its supply cut agreement.

Brent crude futures rose 1.74% to $58.46 a barrel. The benchmark earlier hit $58.94 a barrel, its highest since last February.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled 1.7% higher at $55.69 per barrel, after hitting a high of $56.33 earlier in the session, the highest level since Jan. 2020.

U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell last week to 475.7 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, their lowest since March. Refiner utilization rates, meanwhile, rose by 0.6 percentage points.

Silver rose more than 2% on Wednesday on bets for a pick-up in industrial demand, regaining some ground following a sharp retreat from a near eight-year peak scaled with the help of a social media-inspired buying frenzy.

Spot silver was up 1% at $26.87 per ounce at 11:02 a.m. It fell more than 8% on Tuesday.

The recent moves have attracted a lot of new interest in silver, “not necessarily Reddit investors, but just people out there looking at silver as an undervalued asset,” said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.

The euro zone’s economic downturn deepened in January as coronavirus-induced lockdown measures hit the services industry, new data revealed Wednesday. IHS Markit’s final composite PMI (purchasing managers’ index) reading for January, a useful gauge for economic health, came in at 47.8 last month compared to 49.1 in December, with anything below 50 representing a contraction.

Eurozone retail sales for December, US initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended January 30, and factory orders and durable goods orders for December are set for release today.