European stocks pull back while dollar feels weak

European equities edged lower on opening this morning as investors respond to the flurry of earnings season reports from across the week.

A range of European-listed large caps are reporting today. Renault, Air France-KLM, BNP Paribas and IAG are some of the headliners today. It’s also a fairly busy day for US earnings too, with the likes of Proctor & Gamble, Chevron and ExxonMobil sharing their latest quarterly financials.

It will be interesting to see how Chevron and ExxonMobil perform. Oil prices have strengthened across 2021, despite recent dips due to OPEC+ wrangling, so this may have fed into resurgent revenues for the oil supermajors.

In terms of European earnings, BNP Paribas has shared headline profits of €2.9bn – a 26% annual rise – this quarter. Renault has also shared some insights already, noting €345bn in first half profits for 2021. It’s a major reversal for the French automaker, which posted a €7.3bn loss during the same period in 2020 after the Covid-19 caused mass factory shutdowns.

Looking at indices, we can see drops on the key European bourses. The FTSE 100 was down 73 points at the start of Friday at 7,005.2. Germany’s DAX is about 117 points lower, at 15,492, and the French CAC40 dropped 28 points at 6,605.

Conversely, the NASDAQ was at 14,778, showing a small 15.8 jump. The Dow Jones was up 153 points too at 35,083. The S&P 500 continues the positive trend for US indices, up by 18.51 to reach 4,419.

Asian markets were performing lower, especially Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which had dropped nearly 1.56% at 24,905 at the time of writing. Shares in Asia are possibly on course for their worst month since May 2020 as trading volatility steps up.

Turning to the dollar, the Dollar Index, which weighs the greenback against six other major currencies, looks like it’s on track for more dismal performance following a dovish Fed outlook. It is currently rated at 91.88, after reaching a low of 91.85 – the lowest level seen since June 29^th.

The Fed committed to boosting its monthly Treasury securities purchases by $80bn at its meeting on Wednesday July 28^th. An accommodative approach to the economy, despite hot inflation and disappointing Q2 GDP performance, appears to be Chairman Jerome Powell and the Fed’s direction.

US GDP grew at 6.5% in the quarter ending June, falling way below the Dow Jones estimated 8.4%. A combination of higher consumer prices, high commodities prices, and falling manufacturing and services output contributed to the worse-than-expected second quarter growth rate.

WTI oil contracts started this morning at $73.48. Brent has dipped just below $75 at $74.99 but could be on course to crack that threshold by the end of the day. At week’s end, oil should have gained around 2%, with higher demand in the US and tighter supplies cited as supports.

Bitcoin had cleared $40,000 earlier in the week, but as of today had fallen back to $39,677 at its lowest. The world’s most popular cryptocurrency has had a bit of a torrid July and looks like it’s struggling to establish a breakout.