Sterling faltered on fading hopes of a Brexit deal on Thursday, while a five-session rally in Asian stocks ran out of steam as weak U.S. retail sales fanned fears about the health of the world’s biggest economy.
Asian stocks
- South Korean, Australian and New Zealand indexes were all in negative territory.
- Sterling fell 0.5% to $1.2762 on the news, drifting from a six-month top of $1.2877 touched on Wednesday.
- In early European trades, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures (STXEc1) were down 0.4%.
- German DAX futures (FDXc1) were down 0.3% while those for London’s FTSE futures (FFIc1) added 0.1% at 7,158.
- U.S. stock futures (ESc1) were a shade weaker.
Currency
- In the currency market, the dollar index (=USD) was last at 98.075, bouncing off its lowest since Aug. 27 touched on Wednesday.
- Against the yen, it was a flat at 108.72 after peaking at 108.90 on Tuesday.
- The euro stood at $1.1071 (EUR=), near a one-month high of $1.1085 hit in U.S. trade on Wednesday.
Commodities
- Brent crude (LCOc1) futures fell 0.89% to $58.89 a barrel.
- U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CLc1) lost 1.03% to $52.81.
