Global markets retreat after Wall Street selloff

The Dollar strengthening is intact currently ahead of the US non-farm payroll report at 16:30 CET today. 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, added 0.2% Thursday as Labor Department reported 881 thousand Americans filed for first-time benefits, 130,000 less than previous week. At the same time the Institute of Supply Management’s service sector indicator for August fell to 56.9 in August from 58.1 in July. Any number above 50 indicates an expansion in industrial activity. Both GBP/USD and EUR/USD continued sliding yesterday with Pound higher against the Dollar currently while euro is down still. AUD/USD continued sliding yesterday while USD/JPY ended little changed with both yen and Australian dollar higher against the greenback currently.

Futures on three main US stock indexes are mixed currently after ending slumping Thursday. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded losses ranging from 2.7% to 5.0% led by Nasdaq with Democrats and Republican still divided on fiscal aid package proposals. European stock indexes are rebounding today after ending lower Thursday. Asian indexes are down currently with Australia’s All Ordinaries ASX 200 Index leading losses as miners like BHP were sold off.

Brent is edging lower today. Oil prices fell yesterday despite the US Energy Information Administration report Wednesday that US crude oil inventories fell by 9.4 million barrels last week, the sixth weekly decline in a row while gasoline inventories declined by 4.3 million barrels. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures ended lower yesterday: October WTI slid 0.3% and is lower currently. November Brent crude closed 0.8% lower at $44.07 a barrel on Thursday.

Gold prices are rebounding today . December gold fell Thursday to settle at their lowest level in a week, ending 0.4% lower at $1937.80 an ounce.