Global stocks were down on Friday as investors waited for progress on the US fiscal stimulus plan, as the dollar poised to close the week with losses and cryptocurrency bitcoin reached a new historic ceiling.
* The European stock exchanges gave way from the beginning of operations. The benchmark STOXX 600 index was down 0.2% on the day. The German DAX index lost 0.7%, while the London FTSE 100 fell 0.35% and the CAC indicator on the Paris stock market fell 0.3%.
* In Milan, the selective FTSEMIB fell 0.8% in the session, with the country’s debt yields at record lows.
* Markets in China and much of Southeast Asia are closed on Friday for the Lunar New Year celebration. China’s stock exchanges and debt markets, along with its currency and commodity futures businesses, will be back online on February 17.
* S&P 500 futures on Wall Street were down 0.12%.
* The MSCI Global Equity Index, which includes indicators from 49 countries, was down 0.15%, just short of the record high previously reached for the week.
* Investors have been weighing weak economic data alongside the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations and the possibility of more tax spending and ultra-low borrowing costs to fuel growth, and eventually inflation.
* On Thursday, the weekly figures for US unemployment benefit requests showed a smaller-than-expected drop and the underlying consumer price reading indicated a meager advance, prompting some market operators to moderate their optimism about the outlook. economic.
* On the crypto front, bitcoin hit the $ 49,000 mark, before starting to trim gains.
* BNY Mellon’s announcement that it could help its clients store and transfer digital currency assets came just days after Tesla boss Elon Musk said he would buy $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin and accept the currency as a form of payment for their cars.
* Meanwhile, the dollar index rose 0.25% against a basket of even currencies, but was still heading to close the week with a 0.6% decline.