Last week, the US dollar strengthened against the basket of major currencies. The dollar index (#DX) updated local extremes and closed in the positive zone (+0.17%) on Friday. Support for the US currency was provided by the 10-year US government bonds yield growth. The indicator has reached the highest value of 3.12% since 2011.
On Friday, the Canadian dollar weakened against the US currency due to weak economic reports: core consumer price index fell to 0.1% compared to the previous value of 0.2%; core retail sales index fell to -0.2%, while investors expected a value of 0.5%.
Euro is under pressure due to the tense political situation in Italy. This week, financial market participants are waiting for the publication of the FOMC and ECB minutes on monetary policy. Today, the financial markets of Canada, Germany and Switzerland are closed due to the holidays.
The "black gold" prices are declining. At the moment, futures for the WTI crude oil are testing a mark of $71.75.
Market Indicators
On Friday, the bearish sentiment was observed in the US stock market: #SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) (-0.25%), #SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) (-0.30%), #PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ) (-0.52%).
At the moment, the 10-year US government bonds yield is at the level of 3.07-3.08%.
The news feed on 2018.05.21:
Today, important economic data are not expected to be published.