Indices briefly higher on Thursday morning

Equity indices turned higher on Thursday, with EU and US futures rising circa 0.5% during the Frankfurt session.

 Germany’s Gfk consumer confidence survey came in better than expected earlier Thursday, suggesting that Europe’s largest economy is slowly recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. 

German consumer confidence index rose to -0.3 in August, up from -9.6 scored in July. Analysts had expected -5. The euro rose after the news, and the EURUSD pair was again pushing toward the 1.16 level. 

During the US session, new jobless claims are expected to stay at around 1,300K, while continuing claims are forecast to improve slightly to 17.06 million. However, since many US states are imposing additional lockdowns, the unemployment rate could start increasing again over the next weeks. 

Metals are continuing in their bullish tracks, with silver rising above 23 USD, and gold is pushing toward the all-time highs near 1,900 USD. Copper was also higher today, confirming the rally in equities.