A slew of data releases impacted market sentiment on the first day of the new month. Here is a snapshot of the world markets at this hour across stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies.
Retail Sales in Germany dropped 5.4 percent in April, recording the year's steepest drop. Unemployment in the Euro Area remained steady at 6.8 percent. U.K.'s House Price growth and Australia's first quarter GDP surpassed expectations.
Asian markets finished mixed. European equity markets are trading mildly higher. However, U.K. stocks have fallen amidst a fall in the manufacturing PMI readings to a16-month low. Wall Street Futures are also in positive territory. The Dollar Index continued to firm up. Bond yields moved mixed. E.U.'s partial ban on Russian oil, China's Covid curb relaxations, and expected increase in demand in summer continued to drive crude oil prices higher. Dollar's surge kept gold prices in check. Cryptocurrencies oscillated.
Stock Indexes:
DJIA (US30) at 33,115.80, up 0.38% S&P 500 (US500) at 4,137.70, up 0.13% Germany's DAX at 14,439.09, up 0.35% U.K.'s FTSE 100 at 7,595.57, down 0.16% France's CAC 40 at 6,479.93, up 0.17% Euro Stoxx 50 at 3,794.85, up 0.15% Japan's Nikkei 225 at 27,457.89, up 0.65% Australia's S&P ASX 200 at 7,234.00, up 0.32%China's Shanghai Composite at 3,182.16, down 0.13% Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 21,294.94, down 0.56%
Currencies:
EURUSD at 1.0722, down 0.10%GBPUSD at 1.2588, down 0.10%USDJPY at 129.38, up 0.54%AUDUSD at 0.7189, up 0.23%USDCAD at 1.2643, down 0.01%Dollar Index at 101.91, up 0.16%
Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:
U.S. at 2.864%, up 0.70% Germany at 1.1170%, down 0.71%France at 1.638%, down 0.43%U.K. at 2.1145%, up 0.64%Japan at 0.232%, down 1.49%
Commodities:
Crude Oil WTI Futures (Jul) at $116.62, up 1.70%Brent Oil Futures (Aug) at $117.56, up 1.70%Gold Futures (Aug) at $1,831.40, down 0.92%
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin at $31,604.15, up 0.15%Ethereum at $1,934.30, down 1.57%BNB at $318.70, down 0.14% Cardano at $0.6097, down 7.70%XRP at $0.4164, down 0.80%
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Business News
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.