Macro Roundup (Nov 24)

SHANGHAI, Nov 24 (SMM) — This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

The dollar index held near 16-month highs on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was picked for a second term, reinforcing market expectations that U.S. interest rates will rise in 2022.

The euro bounced off 16-month lows, meanwhile, helped by better-than-expected business growth in the region.

Currency markets have been mostly driven in recent months by market perceptions of the different paces at which global central banks reduce pandemic-era stimulus and raise rates.

U.S. stock futures were little changed on Tuesday night after tech shares sold off for the second day in a row, pressured by rising rates that gave a boost to energy and financial stocks.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.1%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were about 0.1% lower too.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the administration will tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a global effort by energy-consuming nations to calm 2021′s rapid rise in fuel prices.

The coordinated release between the U.S., India, China, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom is the first such move of its kind.

The U.S. will release 50 million barrels from the SPR. Of that total, 32 million barrels will be an exchange over the next several months, while 18 million barrels will be an acceleration of a previously authorized sale.

U.S. oil dipped 1.9% to a session low of $75.30 per barrel following the announcement, before recovering those losses and moving into positive territory. The contract last traded 2.5% higher at $78.67 per barrel. International benchmark Brent crude stood at $82.31 per barrel, for a gain of 3.2%.

Gold prices fell around 1% to a near three-week low on Tuesday as the renomination of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell fueled bets of faster interest rate hikes, bolstering the dollar and Treasury yields.

Spot gold fell 0.9% to $1,788.51 per ounce by 02:13 p.m. ET. U.S. gold futures settled down 1.3% at $1,783.80.

Caught in gold’s slide, spot silver fell 2.8% to $23.49 per ounce, platinum tumbled 4.7% to $964.42 and palladium dropped 4.5% to $1,865.68.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed down by 1.1%, with tech stocks falling 3.1% to lead the losses as most sectors and major bourses dipped into negative territory.

Euro zone business activity growth jumped unexpectedly in November, but a fresh wave of Covid-19 infections across the bloc and surging prices soured the outlook for December.