Market Headlines 21/7/2017

US

• The S&P 500 edged lower Thursday following a weak session for the dollar following comments from Mario Draghi and the failure of the latest US healthcare reform bill.
• Telecoms and Utilities were the best performing sectors on Wall Street, while Energy stocks were mixed as Brent Crude briefly traded above $50 a barrel before reversing gains and settling 0.8% lower.
• US bond yields were broadly unchanged for the session, while dollar weakness helped gold grind out a 0.3% gain.

Europe

• The strength of the euro weighed on European equities yesterday, with the Euro Stoxx 50 index and German DAX trading marginally lower. The UK’s FTSE 100, however, outperformed as Sterling dipped 1.4% and 0.4% lower against the euro and US dollar respectively.
• The euro climbed to its highest level against the dollar in two years following comments from ECB President Mario Draghi. Mr Draghi said the central bank saw signs of “unquestionable improvement” in euro zone growth and pointed to plans for policymakers to begin discussing possible changes to its quantitative easing program later this year.

Asia

• A muted session in Asia overnight. Japanese equities settled 0.2% lower as the Yen was little changed, and Chinese indices traded broadly flat.