The DAX 30 fell 113 points, or 0.9% to 12,228 on Thursday, the lowest close since June 17th, dragged by SAP shares (-5.6%) after the software firm reported second-quarter lower-than-expected earning results. Meanwhile, other major European shares closed mostly lower: the FTSE 100 lost 42 points, or 0.6% to 7,493, the lowest level in 3 weeks on the back of Asos stocks (-20.5%), following the company's third profit warning in eight months; the CAC 40 dropped 21 points, or 0.4% to 5,551; and the IBEX 35 retreated 59 points, or 0.6% to 9,226; while the FTSE MIB went up 11 points, or 0.1% to 22,091.

Oil prices reversed gains on Thursday afternoon, following news that the foreign vessel stopped by the Iran Revolutionary Guards early today had only a small cargo and was seized for fuel smuggling. US crude oil fell as much as 1.5% to $55.91 a barrel while Brent crude dropped 1.4% to $62.82 a barrel around 10:30 AM New York time.

The Industrial Entrepreneur Confidence Index in Brazil rose to 57.4 in July 2019 from 56.9 in the previous month, boosted by an improvement in expectations over the next six months regarding the company's situation (63.4 from 63.1 in June) and the country's economic situation (59.6 from 58.7). In addition, the gauge measuring the current economic situation increased to 45.4 from 44.9 a month earlier, while the company's current situation deteriorated (47.8 from 49.0). Among sectors, confidence strengthened among constructors (58.7 from 57.0) and miners (58.3 from 54.3), but declined among manufacturers (56.9 from 57.1).

US stocks fell on Thursday morning as Netflix shares tumbled more than 9% after the company reported on Wednesday a sharp decline in worldwide subscribers, while concerns about ongoing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing continued to weigh. The Dow Jones lost 0.2% to 27,166; the S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 2,980; and the Nasdaq dropped 0.2% to 8,167 around 30 minutes after the opening bell.

Nickel prices extended gains on Thursday, rising above $14,700 a tonne for the first time in a year, boosted by strong demand in China and worries about potential future shortages.

The British pound held on to gains on Thursday afternoon after MPs have voted by 315 to 274 in favor of a measure designed to block the Prime Minister from suspending Parliament to facilitate a no-deal Brexit. Sterling rose 0.4% to $1.247 in early trading on the back of stronger-than-expected retail trade data for June.

The South African Reserve Bank cut its benchmark repo rate by 25 bps to 6.5 percent on July 18th 2019, as widely expected. It was the first rate cut since March last year, amid a persistently uncertain environment. Policymakers noted that inflation expectations continued to moderate and said that they will continue to focus on anchoring it near the mid-point of the inflation target range. The Committee added that future policy decisions are highly data dependent, sensitive to the assessment of the balance of risks to the outlook. Also, policymakers said that the GDP is expected to rebound in the second quarter of the year and lowered its outlook for 2019 to 0.6 percent (from 1 percent in a previous projection); while for 2020 and 2021 were unchanged at 1.8 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively.

The number of Americans filling for unemployment benefits increased by 8 thousand to 216 thousand in the week ended July 13th 2019 from the previous week’s revised level of 208 thousand and in line with market expectations. According to unadjusted data, the biggest rises were recorded in Texas (+4,603); California (+4,538); Georgia (+3,547) and Indiana (+1,863) while the largest declines were seen in Michigan (-5,665); New Jersey (-3,802); Illinois (-1,853) and Arkansas (-1,357).

Gold prices were down more than 0.5% to $1416 an ounce around 07:00 AM NY time on Thursday, after hitting a two-week high of $1426.8 an ounce in the previous session. The drop in gold prices comes despite a weaker dollar while some trading investors are taking advantage of Wednesday’s gains to book profits.