NASDAQ index and S&P closes lower.
The US stock indices are closed for the week. The NASDAQ index was the weakest of the majors today. The Dow industrial average closed higher. The S&P was marginally lower:

Trades down around -0.51%
The Dow industrial average is still up around 0.4% at 34212.
The S&P index is down around 4.2-0.10% at 4155.13. It’s low reached 4151.72 earlier in the day

Remarks by ECB president, Christine Lagarde
– Believes that we are in a recovery process
– But the recovery is still uncertain
– Euro area will go back to pre-virus levels in 2022
Her comments on inflation are the more notable ones here but it fits with what most policymakers – especially the Fed – have been sticking with

AUD/USD erases the slight decline from earlier to push back up to 0.7775
As such, buyers hold near-term control but will have to try and work past the swing highs yesterday at around 0.7780 first before challenging the 0.7800 level next.

Not a whole lot going on thus far
European indices are posting slight gains so far on the session while US futures are seen up 0.2%, as risk tones keep steadier and calmer after the bounce yesterday.

RKI president, Lothar Wieler, warns against virus variants
That is not too comforting and this will be a risk to watch out for as major economies start to progress with the reopening ahead of the summer. There is already a growing fear in the UK over the India COVID-19 variant in the past few days and

Latest data released by Markit/CIPS – 21 May 2021
Pent-up demand is the obvious driver here although strong price pressures are still a downside to note in this report, much like everywhere else at the moment.

Forex news from the European trading session – 20 May 2021
Headlines:
Markets:
– CHF leads, USD lags on the day
– European equities higher; S&P 500 futures down 0.2%

Will dip buyers step back in once again later today?
European indices are slightly higher but that owes more to a catchup in the late bounce to US stocks yesterday rather than any positive sentiment.

Latest data released by CBI – 20 May 2021
– -8
– Trends selling prices 38
– Prior 27
UK factory orders jump to their highest since December 2017 as the reopening continues to fuel stronger economic prospects in Q2. That said, businesses continue to fear supply chain bottlenecks and that is leading to strong input/output price inflation.