The dollar retreated from its three-week high despite the release of minutes from March’s Federal Reserve meeting which showed a decidedly hawkish tone. The minutes, released on Wednesday, related that most policymakers are in favor of reducing the country’s balance sheet sometime in 2017, a sentiment that reduced risk appetite. The minutes also showed that policymakers largely viewed equity prices as high, another factor that sent stock shares lower on Wednesday. The Fed seldom comments about stock prices, fueling nervousness for investors and causing traders to reduce their positions as a precaution.
Market optimism had previously been thwarted by House Speaker Paul Ryan who noted that there is no consensus regarding Trump’s tax reforms and that it will take a while to implement any new healthcare plans. However, most analysts believe that the biggest market mover on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning is continuing concern about U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping,
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.8 percent on Thursday morning, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged 1.4 percent to hit lows not seen since early December. U.S. stock market futures were down 0.3 percent in early trade.
The dollar was down 0.2 percent on Thursday morning, trading at 110.500 yen. The euro also gained against the greenback, trading at $1.0674. The pound remained steady at $1.2479 after gaining overnight on data that Britain’s services sector showed growth.
Oil prices were down slightly on Thursday morning after new reports showed that U.S. crude inventories hit a record high. U.S. WTI crude was down 26 cents to trade at $50.86 per barrel, while Brent crude was down 27 cents to $54.09 per barrel.