Equities venture up after bond yields moderate - 23.5.2025

The Dollar weakening has resumed 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, rose 0.5% on Thursday.

EUR/USD reversed its sliding while GBP/USD accelerated its advancing yesterday as UK long-term borrowing costs rose to 27-year highs. Both euro and Pound are higher against the dollar currently. USD/JPY reversed its retreating while AUD/USD reversed its advancing on Thursday with both the yen and Australian dollar higher against the Greenback currently.

US stock market futures are up currently with the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes steady at 4.513%. The three main stock benchmarks ended mixed on Thursday recording daily returns in the range from -0.04% to 0.28% with tech shares advancing after US Treasury bond yields moderated following the House of representatives passage of president Donald Trump’s tax cut bill.

European stock markets futures are higher currently after closing lower on Thursday as UK borrowing costs rose following the UK-EU post-Brexit deal on Monday in which the two sides signed an agreement covering a number of matters including security, energy, trade, travel and fisheries. Asian stock indexes futures are mostly rising with Japan’s Nikkei leading gains after data showed Japanese inflation surged to an over two-year high following a recent gain in wages that helped boost private spending.

Brent is edging up presently. Prices continued sliding on Thursday amid reports the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known collectively as OPEC+, are discussing whether to make another large output increase at their meeting on June 1, with an increase of 411,000 barrels per day for July among the options under discussion. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures slid 0.6% but are higher currently. Brent futures lost 0.7% to $64.44 a barrel on Thursday.