Dec 6, 2023: Most Asian currencies rose slightly on Wednesday as weak U.S. labor data spurred continued bets on early interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, helping investors look past persistent concerns over China’s economy. JOLTs data showed U.S. job openings declined in October, pushing up hopes for a prolonged cooling in the labor market which could limit the space the Fed has to keep rates higher for longer. The reading pulled down Treasury yields, and comes just a few days before closely-watched nonfarm payrolls data. Optimism over a less hawkish Fed helped most Asian currencies clock some gains…
Author: Admin
Dec 6, 2023: Australia’s economy grew slightly less than expected in the third quarter on weak export demand, particularly in China, although domestic spending remained robust amid high interest rates and inflation. Gross domestic product grew 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September 30, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday. The reading was below expectations of 0.3%, and slowed from the 0.4% quarterly growth seen in the second quarter. On an annual basis, GDP grew 2.1%, beating expectations of 1.7% and remaining steady from the prior quarter. But the year-on-year figure was elevated chiefly by…
Dec 6, 2023: The USD/JPY currency pair showcased resilience in Asian session on Wednesday, stabilizing above its three-month lows in the mid-147 range. This steadiness comes as US Treasury yields experience slight increases and the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino maintains a dovish stance, emphasizing the continuation of easy monetary policies until Japan’s price stability targets are achieved. The dollar’s position was bolstered by a modest uptick in US Treasury yields, which often influence the currency’s value. Despite this, the greenback displayed signs of weakness due to growing investor expectations of a potential Federal Reserve rate cut…
Dec 5, 2023: Australia’s central bank held interest rates steady on Tuesday as expected, buying it more time to assess the state of the economy and decide whether to tighten further next year even as the U.S. and Europe are seen as almost certain to ease. Wrapping up its December policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept rates at a 12-year high of 4.35%, adding economic data received since November – when it hiked by a quarter-point – had been broadly in line with expectations. Markets had wagered heavily on a steady outcome given inflation had eased a…
Dec 5, 2023: Core inflation in Japan’s capital slowed in November, underscoring the central bank’s view that cost-push pressures in the world’s third-largest economy will gradually dissipate. While service prices – in focus as the central bank looks for signs of wage-driven inflation – marked their fastest pace of increase since 1994, analysts attributed the climb to a spike in hotel fees amid an influx of tourists. The core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food but includes fuel costs, for Tokyo rose 2.3% in November from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, slightly below a…
Dec 5, 2023: Asian stocks slipped to three-week lows and Hong Kong’s unloved Hang Seng index slumped to a one-year trough on Tuesday while bonds and the dollar steadied as investors tempered expectations for cuts to U.S. interest rates and waited on U.S. jobs data. The Australian dollar fell 0.6% after the central bank left interest rates on hold, as expected, and emphasised that the future direction rates would depend on data. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1% in late afternoon trade, with Hong Kong doing most of the dragging with a 1.6% fall. The…
Dec 5, 2023: Gold prices rose slightly in Asian trade on Tuesday, steadying after racing to record highs earlier in the week as persistent expectations of a less dovish Federal Reserve and increased safe haven demand supported the yellow metal. The yellow metal saw an abnormally large jump in early trade on Monday, with spot prices briefly hitting a lifetime high of $2,148.78 an ounce before tumbling sharply from the peak. A mix of factors drove the surge, with the most prominent being somewhat less hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve, which ramped up expectations for early interest rate cuts…
Dec 5, 2023: Bitcoin rose on Monday, briefly surpassing $42,000 to reach a 20-month high, in a new surge of momentum fueled by U.S. interest rate cut expectations and traders betting that American regulators will soon approve exchange-traded spot bitcoin funds. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency rose to $42,162, its highest since April 2022, seemingly casting off the gloom that had settled over crypto markets following the collapse of FTX and other crypto-business failures last year. It was up 8.27% at $42,005 as of 20:00 GMT. Bitcoin’s gains lifted the shares of cryptocurrency-related companies, as well as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed…
Nov 30, 2023: Gold prices fell slightly on Thursday as a recent rally in the yellow metal appeared to have paused, as markets awaited more cues on U.S. monetary policy from a key inflation reading due later in the day. But the prices of the yellow metal remained close to a seven-month peak hit earlier this week, as expectations of a less hawkish Federal Reserve, a weaker dollar and some increased safe haven demand spurred strong gains in November. Spot gold fell 0.1% to $2,042.10 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in December fell 0.2% to $2,044.10 an ounce by…
Nov 30, 2023: Most Asian currencies kept to a tight range on Thursday tracking weak economic signals from China, while the dollar steadied from recent losses as markets awaited a key inflation reading due later in the day. The Chinese yuan strengthened slightly after a stronger midpoint fix from the People’s Bank of China. But purchasing managers index data showed a sustained decline in manufacturing activity, as China’s biggest economic engines struggled with worsening overseas demand. The reading highlighted continued weakness in the Chinese economy, as a post-COVID rebound failed to materialize. But steady PBOC support, coupled with a less…
