Equities selloff intact after Fed signals continued tightening - 22.9.2022

The Dollar strengthening is intact currently. 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, rose 0.7% Wednesday after Federal Reserve raised interest rates another three-quarter percentage point.

Both GBP/USD and EUR/USD accelerated their sliding on Wednesday. Euro and Pound are lower against the Dollar currently. USD/JPY continued its climbing yesterday while AUD/USD accelerated its sliding with both the yen and Australian dollar lower against the Greenback currently.

The US stock index futures are down currently ahead of Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis reports on unemployment claims and US current account due at 14:30 CET today. The three main US stock indexes booked losses ranging from 1.7% to 1.8% Wednesday while Federal Reserve increased the policy rate to 3.0-3.25 per cent.

European stock indexes futures are retreating currently after closing up yesterday led by utility shares. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee will announce its interest rate decision today, it is widely expected policy makers will hike interest rates 75 basis points. Asian stock indexes futures are mostly falling today with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 All Ordinaries index defying the general trend while the Bank of Japan held interest rates at ultra-low levels and maintained its dovish stance.

Brent is rebounding currently. Prices declined yesterday after the Energy Information Administration report showing domestic crude oil inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels last week while gasoline demand over the past four weeks fell to 8.5 million barrels per day, its lowest since February. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures lost 1.2% but is higher currently. Brent crude declined 0.9% to $89.83 a barrel on Wednesday.