General Sentiment;

Asian shares cooled down this Thursday after the fed indicated that it was in no rush to taper stimulus. The Fed also kept interest rates in the target range between 0 and 0.25%. In addition to the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill being approved by the Senate.

Concerns over China’s regulatory measures kept investors slightly cautious as it weighed on market sentiment. The next Fed meeting will be in September so the gap in the middle will offer markets a breather.

Equities;

On Wallstreet, Facebook stock dropped 3.5% shortly after announcing its revenue earnings and indicating that will decelerate significantly. 

Apple stock also fell on the Nasdaq by 1.2% after its slow growth forecast. The S&P reversed losses made in the previous session but still managed to end in the red overnight.

Meanwhile, Google parent Alphabet(Nasdaq: GOOGL) hit an all-time high up by 3.2% overnight, pulling the Nasdaq upwards on the back of a surge in advertising spending boosting its revenue.

Currency Markets;

The U.S. dollar dropped overnight and continued to hover around a two-week low after the Fed signaled that interest rate hikes are still not forthcoming.

The kiwi however was up to 0.696 reversing earlier declines after the New Zealand business confidence fell -3.8 in July.

The USD/JPY inched down to 109.78 by 0.10%.

Commodities; Gold

Gold was able to break resistance and score its highest level in a week, to stabilize around $1,814.20. The yellow metal was definitely supported by a falling USD.

Commodities; Oil

Oil prices were a little changed being supported by a drop in U.S. crude inventories and as rising covid-19 resurgence pessimism fades. Brent dipped to $74.67 a barrel while WTI stayed at $72.53.