22.10. China property stocks rally, oil decreases, dollar looses for the second week straight

News for today, October 22nd:

On Friday, Asian tech stocks rallied together with their U.S. peers, while Chinese property stocks rallied after indebted China Evergrande Group unexpectedly paid interest on dollar bonds. According to a Reuters source, on Thursday China Evergrande Group transferred $ 83.5 million in coupon payments to a Citibank trustee account. This means that the indebted company will be able to pay interest to all bondholders before the 30-day grace period expires on October 23rd, which would lead the developer to formal default. As a result, the company's shares jumped 3.5%.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell: for Brent crude, this week would be the first losing week in seven, and WTI crude would fall for the first time in nine weeks, continuing a descent from multi-year highs reached earlier this week. Energy stocks also declined following a sharp drop in oil prices, and coal futures increased oil losses after Beijing announced intervention to reduce rising prices contributing to the country's electricity shortages.

On Friday, the dollar is preparing to decline for the second week in a row, as investors were drawn to more risky assets. The dollar index came in at 93.733, down 0.24% over the week and continuing to fall from a 12-month high of 94.565 reached earlier this month.

The price of Brent crude is $ 84,79 per barrel, WTI — $ 82,69. EUR/USD is at 1.1643, GBP/USD —1.3799, gold is at $ 1,791.05 per ounce.­­­­