General Sentiment:

Asian shares struggled to follow a green wall street session, as concerns of delta variant in Asia start to intensify. on the other side of the world, the Bank of England handed down its policy decision on Thursday, waving inflationary pressures.

Equities:

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 posted record gains overnight after a series of strong corporate earnings and a decline in U.S. unemployment claims. U.S. initial jobless claims submitted 385K claims VS 382K expected and 399K previous. Markets digest the second weekly drop well meanwhile companies like Amazon, Wells Fargo, and Blackrock delayed going back to the office as covid-19 concerns are still peaking.

Currency Market:

The USD continued to rise, hovering around 92.24, especially after comments from Fed chair Clarida and this week’s economic indicators.

The sterling rose 0.3% to $1.393 after BOE handed down its policy decision.

The USD/JPY hed it firm at 109.75.

Commodities: Gold

Gold continued to drop ahead of the Non-farm payrolls due today, gold prices were down 0.39% touching a low of $1,798.

Commodities: Oil

Oil steadied after settling for its biggest weekly loss since October after a surprise build in U.S. crude stockpiles. Brent was up to $71.28 while WTI was at $69.1.