In European Equity Markets the pan-European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.04 percent during the day’s deal-making, with a slim majority of sectors in positive territory. Europe’s technology stocks led the losses, down more than 1 percent  The FTSE 100 in London and Germany’s Xetra Dax closed lower while the French CAC 40 managed to eke out a small gain. Meanwhile, shares of Danske Bank fell 2.01 percent after Danish daily newspaper Berlingske cited new data in an Estonian money laundering legal case.

 

In Currency Markets the euro fell on Wednesday as weaker confidence in the euro zone overshadowed better-than-expected data on business activity, while concern about Washington’s end-of-week deadline to impose tariffs on Chinese imports crimped trading. The euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.1647 after data showed euro zone business growth accelerated in June. But optimism among purchasing managers was at its lowest since late 2016, the Purchasing Managers Index survey found. The offshore yuan rallied to 6.6140 against the dollar, before giving up some of those gains.

 

In Commodities Markets brent oil extended gains on Wednesday due to Middle East tensions and a decline in U.S. crude inventories for the second week in a row caused by an outage at a Canadian facility. The price was near session highs above $78 a barrel after an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said he was ready to prevent regional crude exports if Iranian oil sales were banned by the United States. Brent crude futures were up 29 cents at $78.05 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures were down 34 cents at $73.80 a barrel.

 

In US Equity Markets trading was closed for the Independence Day holiday.

 

In Bond Markets the gap between short- and long-term euro zone borrowing costs was near its tightest in over a week on Wednesday as the European Central Bank appeared to push on with plans to focus its bond-buying on longer-dated debt. That has helped drive the yield spread between Germany’s two- and 10-year debt to the flattest in a year at 97 basis points. The gap between 10- and 30-year yields has narrowed 10 basis points over the past week .

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