The euro fell to nearly 16-month lows on Friday after Austria became the first country in Western Europe to re-impose a full ban on trade, and Germany did not rule out doing the same.

 

The single European currency has been declining all week under pressure from growing expectations that interest rates will tighten faster in other countries, especially in the United States.

 

Against the backdrop of the euro's setbacks, the dollar rose for the fourth consecutive week against its major competitors.

 

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde doubled down on her cautious stance on Friday, saying the ECB should not tighten policy as it could undermine the economic recovery.

 

Austria also said it would require all of its citizens to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by February, and the German Minister of Health warned that restrictions could be imposed in the country.

 

"One thing is for sure, if all of Europe is locked up again, and depending on how long that lasts, we will have to rethink our growth scenarios," said Stefan Ekolo, global equity strategist at brokerage Tradition.

 

The euro is down more than 1% this week, dropping two-thirds of a percent on the day to below $ 1.13, close to Wednesday's low of $ 1.12630.

 

The euro weakened across the board, also hitting more than six-year lows against the Swiss franc, which most recently fell 0.5%.

 

The General Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of six major currencies, is gaining about 1% weekly gain.

 

On the day, the dollar is up 0.4% to 95.958, close to Wednesday's 16-month high of 96.266.

 

There are growing expectations that the dollar may strengthen even more next year. US retail sales surpassed expectations this week after inflation came as a surprise last week.

 

"We believe the combination of Fed timing and slowing global growth should favor the US dollar in 2022," UBS analysts said in their outlook report.

 

The Japanese yen strengthened following the announcement of Austria's closure as traders sought safe havens, and was last up 0.3% against the dollar to hit 113.93 yen.

 

Earlier, the currency weakened slightly after the Japanese government introduced a new stimulus package worth 55.7 trillion yen ($ 490 billion).

 

Sterling has lost some of its recent gains and is down 0.5% at around $ 1.34330.

 

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin dropped below the $ 60,000 mark, and it has entered its worst week in the past six months - it last traded in the $ 57,000 area.

Check out the companies that make headlines:

 

Johnson & Johnson rose nearly 4% in premarket Friday following the announcement of plans to spin off its consumer health care business from its pharmaceutical and medical operations.

 

Rivian Automotive - Shares of the newly opened electric vehicle maker continued to rally in Friday preliminary trading, after surging more than 22% in Thursday's session. This follows its market debut on Wednesday when the stock rallied 29%. The company, backed by Amazon and Ford, has already surpassed Ford and General Motors in market capitalization, reaching a valuation of $ 104.9 billion.

 

Lordstown Motors - Shares in the auto startup fell 10% in preliminary trading on Friday after the company reported another quarter without earnings. Lordstown said it plans to manufacture and deliver its Endurance truck in the third quarter of 2022. According to Refinitiv, the company's last quarter loss per share was less than expected. BTIG also downgraded Lordstown Motors to Neutral from Buy.

 

WM Technology - Software company WM Technology fell 13% in preliminary trading on Friday after its quarterly results fell short of expectations. WM Technology's fourth-quarter outlook was also below expectations.

 

Nvidia - Shares in the chipmaker dropped slightly in Friday's preliminary bid after Wedbush downgraded Nvidia to Neutral from Optimistic on a valuation basis. It is difficult for a Wedbush analyst to argue that Nvidia is trading 55x the company's 2024 performance.

 

Hewlett Packard Enterprise - Hewlett Packard Enterprise declined in preliminary trading on Friday after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral, citing easing IT spending in late 2021 and early 2022. The Wall Street firm lowered its price target to $ 14 per share from $ 16 per share.

 

Blink Charging - Shares in the electric vehicle charging company rose 5% in preliminary trading on Friday as investors were encouraged by strong third-quarter earnings. According to Refinitiv, the company generated revenues of $ 6.4 million, well above analysts' expectations of $ 4.7 million.

 

Caesars Entertainment - Casino shares rose in pre-market trading on Friday after B Riley Securities initiated a buy-rated Caesars Entertainment coverage with a $ 191 price target.

 

Warby Parker - Shares in the eyewear company fell in preliminary trading on Friday after the company reported higher-than-expected losses as direct listing costs offset a 32% rise in sales. Warby's net loss for the three-month period ended September 30 increased to $ 91.1 million, or $ 1.45 per share, from a loss of $ 41.6 million, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday after US crude inventories rose more-than-expected last week, even as gasoline inventories hit a four-year low in the world's largest consumer of oil.

 

Brent crude futures fell $ 2.41, or 2.8%, to $ 82.33 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures fell $ 2.74, or 3.3%, to $ 81.17 a barrel.

 

Crude oil inventories are up more than 3.3 million barrels in the last week, more than expected, but gasoline inventories have fallen to their lowest level since November 2017. US oil supply declined, and inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, hit their lowest level in three years.

 

Traders also expect the US Federal Reserve to act to curb inflation, which could undermine some speculative purchases of risky assets, including oil.

 

“Markets are already under pressure,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “We fell due to profit taking from today's Fed meeting.”

 

President Joe Biden, speaking at the climate summit in Glasgow, blamed the rise in oil and gas prices on OPEC's refusal to pump more oil. The average retail price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was $ 3.40 recently, according to AAA, about 20 cents more than a month ago.

 

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC +, meet on Thursday and are expected to reaffirm plans to keep monthly supply growth stable despite calls for an increase.

 

In a sign that high prices are encouraging increased supplies, BP said on Tuesday that it will increase investment in US onshore shale oil and gas to $ 1.5 billion in 2022 from $ 1 billion this year. Overall, production in the United States increased to 11.5 million barrels per day, which is the highest production in the United States this year.

Asia Pacific stocks were mixed on Friday as investors tracked stocks in Apple suppliers after the tech giant lost revenue.

 

Mainland Chinese stocks closed higher, with Shanghai up 0.82% to 3547.34 and Shenzhen up 1.45% to 14 451.38.

 

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index is down 0.8% in the last hour of trading.

 

According to a statement from the exchange, trading in Razer shares, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, was suspended on Friday "pending the release of an announcement regarding inside information of the Company and in accordance with the Hong Kong Code of Mergers and Acquisitions."

 

Japan's Nikkei 225 recovered from previous losses and rose 0.25% on the day to 28,892.69, while the Topix rose about 0.1% to close at 2001.18. South Korea's Kospi fell 1.29% to end the day at 2,970.68.

 

Australia stocks also fell as the S & P / ASX 200 closed 1.44% below 7,323.70. Retail sales in Australia rose 1.3% mom in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to data released Friday by the country's Bureau of Statistics. According to Reuters, this is above forecasts for retail sales growth of 0.2%.

 

MSCI, the broadest Asia Pacific stock index outside Japan, fell 0.63%.

 

Investors watched stocks in regional Apple suppliers move after the company's sales fell short of Wall Street's expectations in the fourth fiscal quarter. CEO Tim Cook said supply restrictions on iPhones, iPads and Macs were more severe than expected.

 

Alps Alpine shares in Japan fell 6.41% on Friday, while Murata Manufacturing rose 0.87% and Taiyo Yuden rose 1.23%.

 

In Taiwan, Hon Hai Precision Industry shares fell 1.38%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shares fell 0.84%.

 

In mainland China, Luxshare shares fell 0.617%, while GoerTek shares jumped 4.663%.

 

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of peers, stood at 93.494, after an earlier low of 93.322.

 

The Japanese yen traded at 113.58 per dollar, up from 114 against the dollar earlier this week. The Aussie changed hands at $ 0.7538, mostly holding up after rising from below $ 0.75 earlier in the week.

 

Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of trading in Asia, with Brent crude on the world market rising 0.26% to $ 84.54 a barrel. US oil futures rose 0.14% to $ 82.93 a barrel.

The former president of electric vehicle giant Tesla said Thursday he would not bet against the company, noting that it is becoming a "formidable competitor" for automakers around the world after the company beat third-quarter earnings expectations.

 

Currently, John McNeil, who is not a Tesla investor, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that the stock is now "priced to perfection," and he confirmed he still drives a Tesla. McNeil, also a former Lyft chief operating officer, highlighted the company's high gross margins.

 

"Gross margin is approaching 30%, just to put it in perspective, it's three times GM's gross margin level and about six times Ford's gross margin level," McNeill said.

 

Despite supply chain issues, Tesla's car sales have risen to record highs, even as other automakers struggle to cope with their own demand.

 

"We're up more than 70% year-on-year compared to GM and Ford, which have a decline of about 30% year-on-year," McNeill said, listing a host of reasons why he wouldn't bet against Tesla. "They now have $16 billion in cash."

 

Drivers ordering cars from Tesla often have to wait several months before receiving the goods, which indicates demand for electric vehicles, but also raises investor concerns about production.

 

With a new plant in Shanghai and two more plants to be opened in Texas and Berlin, the company "has proven that it can open more than one plant and produce in large volumes," McNeill said, noting that Tesla's Shanghai plant produces so many products that it exports it back to North America. "So I think it's necessary to monitor their ability to increase production capacity to meet demand," he added.

 

According to McNeil, other automakers introducing their hybrid or electric cars are simply "opening more eyes to electric vehicles." "Tesla has a dominant share in the U.S., with a market share of 65% in the U.S., 21% worldwide, but I think that's in the context of Tesla having only a 1% share of the global car market and EVs only 4%."

 

McNeill, who is currently CEO of DVx Ventures, predicts that the EV industry is at the beginning of a "decade-long history of growth" for electric vehicles around the world.

 

Tesla shares, which are up more than 20% in 2021 and 100% over the past 12 months, fell nearly 1.5% in the pre-market on Thursday.

The Bank of England's deputy governor for financial stability, John C uncliffe, has warned that cryptocurrencies could trigger a global financial crisis if strict rules are not put in place.

 

In his speech on Wednesday, Cunliffe compared the growth rate of the crypto asset market from $16 billion five years ago to $2.3 trillion today to the $1.2 trillion subprime mortgage market in 2008.

 

"When something in the financial system grows very fast and grows mostly in an unregulated space, financial stability authorities should sit down and pay attention to it," he said.

 

Cunliffe acknowledged that governments and regulators should be careful not to overreact or classify new approaches as "dangerous" simply because they are different, and noted that crypto technologies offer the prospect of "radical improvements" in financial services.

 

However, in his opinion, the risks of financial stability remain limited, the current use of crypto assets raises concerns about financial stability, since most of them "have no intrinsic value and are vulnerable to serious price corrections."

 

Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies, fell in value by more than 30% earlier this year before recovering, and have proven to be extremely volatile since their inception. Prices are subject to a variety of external factors, from comments by Tesla CEO Elon Musk to regulatory repressive measures by the Chinese government.

 

"The crypto world is starting to connect to the traditional financial system, and we are seeing the emergence of players with leverage. And, crucially, it happens mostly in unregulated space," Culliffe said.

 

His comments echo 200 from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey in May, who warned that cryptocurrency investors should be prepared to lose all their money due to the lack of "intrinsic value" of assets.

 

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has also warned of the risky nature of cryptocurrency investments.

 

Callyff said the risk to financial stability could rise rapidly if the market continues to expand at this rate, but the scale of those risks will be determined by the speed of response from regulators and governments.

 

He noted that over the past five years, the price of bitcoin has fallen by 10% in one day almost 30 times, the largest of which was a drop of almost 40% after a cyber incident on the Seychelles exchange of bitcoins and cryptocurrencies BitMEX.

 

"The next question is what could happen as a result of such events if these crypto assets continue to grow at scale, if they continue to become increasingly integrated into the traditional financial sector, and if investment strategies continue to become more complex?" said Cunliffe.

 

Conliffe argued that crucial to whether the system could absorb major price adjustments, burdening some investors with painful losses but avoiding a blow to the real economy, depended primarily on interconnectedness and leverage.

 

Both were present in the subprime mortgage market until 2008, leading to side effects that eventually brought the global economy to its knees, and both are becoming increasingly prominent in the crypto space, Cunliffe suggested. He said it was up to the authorities to manage this growing risk and ensure that the system was resilient to major fixes.

 

"While cryptocurrency finance works in a new way, well-designed standards and regulations can and should allow risk management in the cryptocurrency world in the same way that they are managed in the world of traditional finance," Cunliffe said.

 

Many regulators around the world have begun work to create a public policy framework through which to manage the exponential growth of crypto assets, but Cunliffe said this needs to be done urgently.

 

"Technology and innovation have contributed to the improvement of finance throughout history. Crypto technologies open up great opportunities. As [Ralph Waldo] Emerson said, "If you build a better mousetrap, the world will pave the way for your door," he said.

 

"But it has to be a really better mousetrap, not one that just works to lower standards – or no standards at all."

The asylum dollar held close to a 14-month high against the euro on Thursday as rising energy prices heightened fears that inflation could limit economic growth as well as prompt the Federal Reserve to act faster to normalize policy.

 

The U.S. currency remained stable at $1.1558 per euro after strengthening to $1.1529 on Wednesday, the first time since July last year.

 

The dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of six competitors, has changed little since Wednesday to 94.188, after nearly 0.5% growth over the past two sessions. Last week, the index hit an annual high of 94.504.

 

The Japanese yen, another safe haven, has largely remained at 111.375 per dollar, roughly halfway through its range over the past week and a half.

 

Overnight, crude oil rose to a seven-year high before catching its breath from the recent booming growth, while natural gas jumped to a record peak in Europe and coal prices from major exporters also hit all-time highs.

 

"All the talk on (market) platforms, on social media and in broad markets was around Nat Gas, and it was deafening," wrote Chris Weston, head of research at pepperstone broker in Melbourne. a client note called "OMGas".

 

"Traders feared that the risks of stagflation were mounting and wondered how central banks were coping with the stagflation caused by the supply shock?"

 

Investors also remained on the strain over negotiations over the U.S. debt ceiling, even as the top Republican in the U.S. Senate, Mitch McConnell, said his party would extend the debt ceiling until December, averting a historic default with dire economic consequences.

 

The Federal Reserve, which has so far largely argued that inflationary pressures will prove temporary, said it would likely begin to cut its monthly bond purchases as early as November before interest rate hikes followed.

 

Economists expect further improvement in the labor market, with the consensus forecast suggesting that 473,000 jobs were created in September, a Reuters poll showed.

 

The number of U.S. private sector jobs rose more than expected in September as Covid-19 infections began to weaken, allowing Americans to travel, visit restaurants and re-engage in other activities that require more contact, the ADP National Employment Report showed Wednesday.

 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value, hovered around the nearly five-month high of $55,800 reached on Wednesday and last traded around $54,881.

The U.S. dollar rose for the second straight session on Monday, boosted by rising Treasury yields ahead of a number of Federal Reserve speakers this week, which could confirm expectations that asset purchases will begin to decline before the end of the year.

 

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries hit a three-month high of $1.516% on Monday.

 

On Monday, Fed officials, including one influential board member, linked the reduction in the Fed's monthly bond purchases to continued job growth, with the September jobs report now a potential trigger for the central bank's bond "winding down."

 

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who joins Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, will address Congress on Tuesday.

 

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six major peers, rose 0.1 percent to 93.37.

 

The dollar also continued to rise after data showed that new orders and shipments of major U.S. capital goods rose strongly in August, rising 0.5 percent in August on strong demand for computers and electronic goods.

 

But the market was more focused on the U.S. Treasury bond market.

 

U.S. yields rose to their highest levels since late June in anticipation of a tightening of monetary policy after the Fed announced last week that it could begin winding down stimulus as early as November and noted that an interest-rate hike could come sooner than expected. 

 

"The winding-down process itself is not a surprise, but an earlier end to the program will reinforce the perception that downside risks to the U.S. dollar have diminished," Mazen Issa, senior currency strategist at TD Securities, wrote in a research note.

 

TD expects the Fed to end its quantitative easing program by June 2022.

 

"If the last cycle of winding down the program was any indication, about half of the cyclical rise in the U.S. dollar was seen three months after winding down the program," he added.

 

The euro was down 0.1 percent against the dollar to $1.1698, largely ignoring developments in Germany's weekend election, where the Social Democrats are projected to defeat the conservative CDU/CSU bloc.

 

The dollar rose 0.3 percent against the yen to 110.99 yen, after earlier rising to a nearly three-month high. It rose 0.2 percent against the Swiss franc to 0.9259 franc.

 

"The buck has no real reason to decline from where it is, so we'll be looking to see what can make a difference as we hear news this week from different sides: from the new German leadership, the new head of Japan and the U.S. Congress," said Juan Perez, a currency strategist and trader at Tempus Inc. in Washington.

 

The risk-sensitive Australian dollar rose 0.4 percent to US$0.7289 as worries about widespread market contagion from debt-laden China Evergrande Group eased.

 

Fears that Evergrande, China's second-largest real estate developer, could default on $305 billion in debt have marred trading in recent weeks, but some of those concerns are receding.

 

The People's Bank of China injected a net 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) into the financial system Monday, adding to last week's net 320 billion yuan, the most since January.

European stocks fell sharply Monday as global markets faced worries about the U.S. Federal Reserve's timetable for cutting lending and worries around struggling real estate developer China Evergrande Group.

 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down about 2.2% early in the second half of the day, with the main fallers being the underlying resources, which are heavily linked to China. European banking sector stocks also fell an average of 4% and were poised for their worst session of the year. The German Dax index was down about 2.9%, which also led to its worst trading session of the year.

 

The decline in the European open came as global equities continued to struggle in September, traditionally a weak month for markets, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its first loss in 2021 for three straight weeks.

 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index led losses among Asia-Pacific markets in overnight trading Sunday, with shares of struggling Chinese property developer China Evergrande Group continuing to fall. Markets in mainland China, Japan and South Korea were closed Monday due to the holidays.

 

Global markets are also feeling some nervousness ahead of the much-anticipated September Federal Reserve meeting, which begins Tuesday. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a news conference Wednesday at the conclusion of the two-day meeting, and investors will be eager to catch any signs that the Fed will be winding down its loose monetary policy.

 

Powell has said a cut could happen this year, but investors are waiting for more specifics, especially after mixed economic data released after Powell's latest comments. U.S. stock futures were mixed in overnight trading Sunday.

European stocks rallied Thursday morning as investors prepare for the next reading of US nonfarm payrolls data due Friday.

 

Pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.3% by mid-morning, with tourism and leisure stocks up 1.1%, while fixed assets fell 0.6%.

 

Investors around the world are watching closely the release of data from the US in the next few days. Markets await the weekly initial jobless claims report on Thursday and the Labor Department's nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.

 

Dow Jones estimates the non-farm jobs report for August is expected to add 720,000 new jobs and drop the unemployment rate to 5.2%.

 

The data could influence when the US Federal Reserve starts to cut its asset purchase program, as well as the direction of central bank policy in Europe. US stock futures remained largely unchanged on Wednesday night.

 

Recent statements from the central bank indicate that it is likely to slow the pace of monthly bond purchases if job growth continues at a rapid pace.

 

Meanwhile, stocks in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed overnight as investors reacted to trade data and corporate news from the region; Australia had a trade surplus of A $ 12.117 billion (about $ 8.93 billion), according to figures released Thursday by the country's Bureau of Statistics.

 

Stocks in mainland China were mixed after Chinese regulators called and interviewed 11 companies calling on passengers to correct “illegal behavior.”

 

Regarding the development of a vaccine against Covid, Moderna and Takeda Pharmaceutical announced Wednesday that they are working with Japanese authorities to recall several shipments after stainless steel contaminants were found in some vials.

 

In terms of individual share price movements, Sweden's Orphan Biovitrum gained more than 24% after US venture capital firms Advent International and Aurora Investment offered to buy a biopharmaceutical company from Stockholm at SEK 235 (US $ 27.30 ) per share.

 

At the bottom of the European blue-chip index, mining giant BHP fell 6% trading without dividends.

Oil prices rose on Friday, expecting a significant rise for the week due to concerns about short-term supply disruptions as energy companies began to stop production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a forecast of a potential hurricane over the weekend.

 

Futures for WTI crude oil rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $67.58 a barrel at 01.01 GMT, after recovering a 1.4% drop on Thursday. WTI is aiming for a weekly gain of more than 8%, which will be the strongest growth since the beginning of February.

 

Brent crude futures also rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $71.23 a barrel after falling 1.6% on Thursday.

 

The price of Brent crude will rise more than 9% this week, the biggest weekly jump since June 2020, largely due to relief that China has contained the delta variant flare-up.

 

On Thursday, the companies began moving workers from oil production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, and BHP and BP said they had begun to stop production on offshore platforms as a storm brewed in the Caribbean Sea that is forecast to pass through the Persian Gulf over the weekend.

 

Offshore wells in the Gulf of Mexico account for 17% of U.S. crude oil production and 5% of dry natural gas production. More than 45% of all U.S. refining capacity is located on the Gulf Coast.

 

The prospect of supply disruptions in the Persian Gulf helped the market recover from losses on Thursday, which were partly caused by the resumption of production on the Mexican oil platform after a deadly fire.

 

"The market may have more serious concerns about the hurricane in the Caribbean. It is expected to become a powerful hurricane and potentially cause damage to the Gulf of Mexico and Texas early next week," ANZ Research said in a statement.

 

Analysts also expect the dollar movement to be an important factor on Friday after the long-awaited speech by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Markets expect it to make some recommendations on plans to curtail bond purchases in the fourth quarter.

 

"If we see an earlier decline in prices, we expect the US dollar to rise and this will put pressure on oil and other commodities," said Commonwealth Bank commodities analyst Vivek Dhar.

Gold prices fell on Thursday as a stronger dollar and rates on imminent tightening by the US Federal Reserve weighed on sentiment, although losses for the safe-haven metal were limited by concerns that rising COVID-19 cases would slow global growth.

 

Spot gold fell 0.5% to $ 1,778.65 an ounce by 2:21 pm ET. US gold futures are down 0.1% to $ 1,783.1

 

Putting pressure on gold, the US dollar surged to nine-month highs after July Fed minutes showed that officials largely expected they would be able to ease stimulus this year, although consensus on other key issues seemed elusive.

 

"The only thing that is unclear is when this (cut) might happen. However, the cut has become the price of gold again," said Commerzbank analyst Daniel Breesemann.

 

Earlier data showed that the number of Americans filing new jobless claims fell to a 17-month low last week, underlining recent Fed officials' views of a labor market recovery.

 

Market attention is currently focused on the annual meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on August 26-28.

 

Talk of narrowing and fears of rising delta COVID-19 cases have heightened risk sentiment in broader financial markets, pushing investors towards safe haven assets.

 

“Gold certainly benefits from its safe haven status. While stock markets are dropping hard, gold is in demand again. Obviously, COVID's nerves are on edge, ”said OANDA analyst Craig Earlam.

 

"Going above $ 1,800 looks more achievable," added Earlam. "Gold will be under downward pressure in the medium term, but that won't stop it from taking advantage of the nervousness."

 

Gold prices are up about 6% from the more than four-month low of $ 1,684.37 hit last week.

 

Elsewhere, silver fell 1.4% to $ 23.15 an ounce.

 

Platinum fell 2.5% to $ 969.88 an ounce and palladium fell 4.8% to $ 2311.19 an ounce, hitting its lowest level since mid-March at $ 2299.57.