Optimism Returns
Optimism about progress on opening economies globally whetted risk sentiment in Wednesday’s Asian trading but investors remained cautious ahead of the key US Q1 GDP and FOMC decision.
Also, the US-China conflict over Beijing’s coronavirus response and awful US Consumer Confidence data kept the traders on the edge. Asian markets were a mixed bag, with the Japanese stocks lagging while the US equity futures jumped nearly 1.50%. The US Treasury yields, however, remained soggy, with the US dollar downed once again amid a cautious optimistic environment.Crude oil prices extended Tuesday’s bounce, with WTI having briefly regained $14 mark. Gold prices also rose after three-day declines, in the wake of the dollar repositioning ahead of the key event risks.
On the currency front, USD/JPY continued to tack the dollar trend and fell to a new six-week low near 106.50. The Antipodeans were the top performers across the fx board, as economic re-openings down under buoyed the sentiment. AUD/USD reached fresh seven-week highs near 0.6540, also helped by upbeat Australian Q1 CPI figures. The Kiwi also followed suit and jumped back above 0.6100. USD/CAD faced rejection at 1.4000 and dropped below 1.3950, as the Canadian dollar was rescued by the oil-price rebound.
Among the European currencies, EUR/USD consolidated the Asian bounce to 1.0855 while the cable veered towards 1.2500, having added 0.50% on the day.