Stocks mixed ahead of US nonfarm payrolls data - 5.7.2024

The Dollar weakening continues 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, ended 0.2% lower on Thursday.

Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD slowed their climbing on Thursday while the Destatis federal statistics office reported German industrial orders fell unexpectedly in May, a fifth consecutive drop. Both euro and Pound are higher against the dollar currently. USD/JPY reversed its advancing while AUD/USD slowed its climbing yesterday with both the yen and the Australian dollar higher still against the Greenback currently.

US stock index futures are higher with the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes up at 4.359%. US markets were closed for July 4 holiday yesterday. The three main stock benchmarks closed mixed on Wednesday recording daily returns in a range from -0.06% to 0.9% while ADP reported below-expectations US private-sector hiring  for June whereas a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed a surprise contraction in US services industry activity - the second contraction in the last three months.

European indexes futures are rising today as the Labour Party won a landslide victory in a parliamentary election after stock indexes closed higher on Thursday. Asian stock indexes futures are mixed today with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leading losses while data from Japan indicated Japanese household spending unexpectedly fell in May.

Brent is edging lower currently. Prices ended marginally higher on Thursday while Saudi Arabia's Saudi Aramco cut the price for the flagship Arab Light crude it will sell to Asia in August to $1.80 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average. There was no settlement for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures with the US market shut for the Fourth of July holiday on Thursday. Brent futures added 0.1% to $87.43 a barrel on Thursday.