Dollar Settles Higher Post FOMC Minutes

USD

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, inched higher to 92.84, the highest since early April. The minutes of the last monetary policy meeting by the Federal Reserve showed that fed officials believe tapering asset purchases might happen earlier than previously anticipated, supported by economic progress and inflation woes. On the other side, they still see a slack in the labor market, which could take time to vanish. The EURUSD fell to $1.1781, the GBPUSD eased to $1.3753, and the AUDUSD tumbled to $0.7433.

Equities

Major US stock index futures retreated post the Fed minutes. Investors are afraid of the impact of inflation, and the easing of stimulus. Moreover, the covid19 Delta variant spread is weighing on risk appetite. The S&P500 futures faltered at a record high of 4351, and fell towards 4319, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped to 34260, and tech-heavy Nasdaq fell to 14734 but remain supported by falling US yields.

Metals

Precious metals prices continued to trade in a tight range, benefiting from falling yields but capped by Fed's hawkish tone. The price of a gold ounce dropped to $1796, the price of a silver ounce plunged to $25.86, while palladium held steady near $2830.

Oil

Oil prices extended sell-off as OPEC+ failed to revive a deal over production after abandoning talks. Russia and Kuwait are trying to solve disputes between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates over increasing the latter's production baseline. Meanwhile, investors are afraid of the impact of the covid19 delta variant spread on the oil-demand recovery. The West Texas Intermediate crude August contract fell to $71.04, and the Brent blend September contract eased to $72.58.

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