Energy Prices in Germany Jumped by 44 Percent in September

U.S. weekly jobless claims plummeted by 16,000 to the lowest since April, but U.S. GDP revisions confirmed the U.S. economy contracted in 1H 2022. Risk-off sentiment returned to markets on Thursday. The DXY dollar index climbed to new historic high of 113.26. Meanwhile, as of 2:45 p.m. CET, the S&P 500 futures dropped 0.8%, and European stocks also fell (more below). Recently, one of a Federal Reserve policymakers noted the country will likely raise interest rates by 100-125 basis points (bps) until the end of the year, with another one stating there is a high chance the rates would be increased by 75 bps in November, and by 50 bps in December.

Corporatewise, Biogen (BIIB) shares yesterday skyrocketed 40% after the biotech firm reported a late-stage trial of its Alzheimer’s Disease drug showed highly statistically significant results. Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY), which is seeking regulatory approval for its own Alzheimer’s drug, were up as well. Amazon (AMZN) shares also rebounded around 3% as the bluechip online retailer introduced several new devices. Apple (AAPL) was the only laggard in the Dow, with shares falling more than 1% on a report that a lack of demand for iPhones has led the tech giant to pull back on plans to increase production. Shares of iPhone chipmakers TSMC (TSM) and Qualcomm (QCOM) also declined.

Precious metals are in decline mode today amid the U.S. dollar return to ascension as the greenback started the day by trading higher against both the euro and the British pound following yesterday's brief drawback. At the time of writing, gold futures fell by 0.62% to $1,650.40 per ounce. Silver dropped by 1.42%, to $18.63 per ounce at the same time. Platinum edged down by 0.34%, selling for $864.82 per ounce, while palladium was the only growing precious metals family member, adding a robust 2.14% to $2,193.66 per ounce.

European markets are trending lower today. At the time of writing, the Pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 Index dived 1.45%, the British FTSE 100 eased by 1.13% while the French CAC 40 Index fell 1.35%, and the German DAX dropped 1.5%.

The consumer confidence indicator in the Eurozone dropped by 3.8 points to -28.8 in September, while the economic sentiment indicator fell 3.6 points from a month ago to 93.7. Spanish consumer price inflation somewhat eased to 9.0% YoY in September, while UK car production surged 34% YoY to 49,901 units in August.

The BoE news helped lift the British pound against the U.S. dollar after it had dropped to its lowest point ever on Monday. The greenback also lost ground to the euro and yen. Most major cryptocurrencies reversed earlier losses and traded higher. According to the latest provisional estimate of the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), the country's annual inflation in September 2022 is expected to reach 10%, exceeding the consensus estimate for the month and marking an increase from August's data, when it stood at 7.9%. On a monthly basis, inflation will be 1.9%. On an annual basis, prices of goods increased by 17.2%, whereas prices of services grew by only 3.6%. In particular, energy prices rose by a whopping 43.9% in September 2022 as compared to September 2021, while food prices went up significantly by 18.7% when compared to the same month last year.

Asian markets traded mixed earlier today. Thus, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.95%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.49% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.13%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.4%, while India’s S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.2%. China's current account surplus rose to $77.5 billion in Q2 from a year-ago surplus of $45.5 billion.