Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Wednesday, January 11
1. Dollar pushes higher ahead of Trump press conference
The dollar rose against a basket of the other major currencies on Wednesday as investors awaited a press conference by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump scheduled for 11.00 ET.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.3% to 102.32.
Investors remained cautious ahead of Trump's press conference as they awaited indications on the direction of his economic policies.
Trump will take office on January 20 and has yet to outline his policies in detail.
While Trump's election pledges for tax cuts and more infrastructure spending have boosted U.S. stocks and the dollar, his protectionist stance and the sudden episodes of market volatility triggered by his prolific tweeting have made many investors wary.
2. Oil prices edge higher ahead of U.S. inventory data
Oil prices moved higher on Wednesday following reports that Saudi Arabia was cutting supplies to Asia, but gains were held in check amid doubts over whether major producers will stick to an output cut agreement aimed at reducing global oversupply.
Brent crude was trading up 39 cents, or 0.73% at $54.03 a barrel at 11.00 GMT, while U.S. crude was up 34 cents or 0.67% at $51.16.
Oversupply remained in focus after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday that American crude production would rise by 110,000 barrels per day to 9 million bpd this year.
The EIA was to release its weekly inventory report at 10.30 ET.
3. U.S. stock futures point to flat open on Wall Street
Wall Street futures pointed to a flat open for the major U.S. indexes on Wednesday, a day after the Nasdaq notched its fourth record close in a row but the Dow again failed to reach the psychologically significant level of 20,000.
The Dow futures were up 13.5 points or 0.07%, the S&P 500 futures added 0.5 points or 0.02%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 4.63 points or 0.09%.
4. Turkish lira hits fresh record lows
In emerging markets, the Turkish lira fell to fresh record lows against the greenback as political and economic instability continued to exert heavy selling pressure.
USD/TRY climbed 1.74% to trade at 3.8573 up from Tuesday’s close of 3.7915.
The selloff in the lira gathered pace despite efforts by the country’s central bank to shore up the currency.
The lira is the worst performing major currency this year notching up losses of around 9% against the dollar.
5. Gold hits fresh 6-week high before Trump appearance
Gold prices rose to a fresh six-week high on Wednesday, amid increased safe haven demand ahead of Donald Trump’s first post-election news conference later in the day.
Gold touched an intra-day high of $1,191.00 a troy ounce, a level not seen since November 30 and was last at $1,188.35, up almost $3.00, or 0.3%, after ending Tuesday's session little changed.
The precious metal has been well-supported in recent sessions after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting unsettled investors’ expectations about the pace of future interest rate hikes.
A delay in raising interest rates would be seen as positive for gold, a non-interest-bearing asset, and negative for the dollar.