On the morning of July 18, the euro exchange rate was 1.2074 euros per dollar, having decreased by a cent. The yen strengthened slightly; the dollar was worth 112.025 units of the Japanese currency.

American stock exchanges were growing on July 15. Thus, the value of the Dow Jones index increased by 11.94 points (+0.11 percent) and amounted to 10,640.83 points. The Nasdaq rose 3.96 points (+0.18 percent) to 2,156.78. The S&P 500 reached 1227.92 points, setting another growth record. The growth of stock exchanges is explained by good news from the Federal Reserve, which unexpectedly reported industrial growth. It should also be noted that McDonald's shares showed excellent growth (+4.7 percent) after the announcement of earnings for the second quarter.

On July 15, at the International Petroleum Exchange (London), August futures for Brent crude oil rose by 30 cents and traded at $57.61 per barrel. August futures on the NYMEX traded at $58.09 per barrel.

At the end of the trading day on July 15, the value of the MICEX index was 676.39 points, which is 0.95 percent lower than the closing level of the previous day. The RTS Index at closing on July 15 amounted to 746.17 points, having decreased by 1.21 percent.

On July 16, the Bank of Russia lowered the dollar exchange rate by 4 kopecks, setting it at 28.6269 rubles per dollar. The euro exchange rate, on the contrary, increased by 9 kopecks to 34.7101 rubles per euro.

The main news of the past few days was the long-awaited settlement of the issue with Russian gas in Ukrainian storage facilities . Among the world news, it is worth highlighting the resignation of the president of Citigroup and rumors that North Korea may try to achieve observer status in the WTO .

Market Watch: S&P500 hits four-year high again