SHANGHAI, Sep 9 —This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.
The dollar surged to a 24-year peak against the yen and a 37-year high versus sterling on Wednesday, as Japan’s dovish monetary policy and Europe’s economic problems contrasted with a relatively stronger U.S. economy and a hawkish Federal Reserve determined to bring down inflation to its 2% inflation target.
The U.S. currency soared as high as 144.99 yen, hitting the level for the first time since August 1998. It is now within a large leap of its 1998 high of 147.43. The dollar was last up 0.9% at 144.09 yen.
Against sterling, the greenback hit $1.1407, the lowest since 1985 and last down 0.1% at $1.1509.
U.S. stock futures were little changed on Thursday night following a choppy trading session as traders considered Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s latest comments on inflation.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 30 points, or 0.09%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.1% and 0.15%, respectively.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 193 points, or 0.61%, during the regular session on Thursday — closing higher after alternating between gains and losses throughout the day. The S&P 500 rose 0.66%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.60%.
Those gains put all three major averages on pace to snap a 3-week losing streak. Through Thursday, the Dow is up 1.45%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is up 2.09%, and the Nasdaq Composite is 1.99% higher.
Still, stocks remain under pressure as expectations of a 0.75 percentage point rate hike this month grew on Wall Street, after the Fed chair said again that he is “strongly committed” to bringing down inflation.
Crude prices edged up about 1% on Thursday after dropping to a seven-month low in the prior session as some technical traders bought the dip and Russia threatened to halt oil and gas exports to some buyers.
That price increase came despite a surprise build in U.S. crude inventories, news that the United States was weighing the need for more crude releases from strategic reserves and concerns China’s COVID-19 lockdown extensions and rising global interest rates would slow economic activity and hit fuel demand.
U.S. crude stockpiles surged by nearly 9 million barrels last week due to a combination of increased imports and ongoing releases from government emergency reserves, the Energy Information Administration said.
Gold prices slipped on Thursday after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cemented expectations around a 75-basis-point rate hike at its upcoming policy meeting.
Spot gold fell 0.64% to $1,706.67 per ounce after hitting a more than one-week high earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures also settled down 0.4% at $1,720.20.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the day up 0.5%, with banking and financial services stocks leading the gains, up 2.3% and 1.2%, respectively. Retail stocks led losses, closing down 1.5%.
