Stocks mixed as yield worries’ grip on markets tightens - 2.26

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, added 0.1% Thursday as US Labor Department reported 730 thousand Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last week, down from 841 thousand the previous week.

GBP/USD reversed its climbing while EUR/USD continued rising Thursday as Germany’s GfK sentiment recovered slightly. Both pairs are lower currently. AUD/USD also reversed its climbing Thursday while USD/JPY continued gaining. Australian dollar is lower against the greenback currently with yen higher.

Futures on three main US stock indexes are mixed currently ahead of Bureau of Economic Analysis report on US inflation at 14:30 CET today. Wall Street ended sharply lower yesterday despite Census Bureau report US durable goods orders rose 3.4% over month in January when 0.9% increase was expected. The three main US stock benchmarks recorded daily losses ranging from 1.8% to 3.5%.

European stock indexes are mixed today after closing lower Thursday led by chemical shares. Asian indexes are mostly lower today with Nikkei leading losses while Australia’s central bank conducted a surprise bond buying operation to stop the bond selloff.