Stocks, Oil And Forex Steady Ahead Of U.S. Fed Minutes

Shares, oil prices, and currencies held steady on Wednesday as investors saw few reasons to trade ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes, which could offer clues about when it will start tapering its bond purchases.

Photo Insert: Oil prices steadied slightly after four straight days of slipping.

European shares hovered near flat with the benchmark STOXX index rising 0.05% after MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.43%, still only a little above year-to-date lows, Lawrence White reported for Reuters.

Oil also recovered slightly after four straight days of declines as investor concerns eased over demand for fuel while COVID-19 keeps spreading, with Brent crude up 70 cents or 1.14% at $69.82 a barrel.

The dollar held near a 4-1/2 month high versus a basket of major currencies as investors sought safe-havens, weighing up signs of global economic recovery against concerns about rising cases of the Delta variant of the virus.

"We actually think some of the fears about the Delta, especially in Europe, might actually be overdone, especially as countries like Germany or France have been catching up in terms of vaccination rates," said Matthias Scheiber, Head of Multi-Asset Solutions at Wells Fargo Asset Management.

US stock markets looked set for a sluggish open with S&P 500 futures down 0.08%, following a Wall Street slump on Tuesday on weak retail sales. The South Korean won led gains among Asian currencies after a six-day hammering prompted the finance ministry to monitor the currency market more closely.

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