Market News

Both Brent crude futures and U.S. WTI future were broadly higher during Monday’s Asian session as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates broke ties with Qatar on fears that Doha’s connections to terrorism would cause issues of national security.

There are again relatively few high-impact news items scheduled this week, compared to last week. However, very important central bank input is due from the European Central Bank, as well as from the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The US Dollar touched on a 1-week peak versus the Japanese Yen as investors away Friday’s release of the government’s private sector labor report.

The Aussie Dollar was put under some pressure after the release of China’s PMI results show an unexpected shrinkage in manufacturing activity last month.

Asian stocks struggled on Thursday after data out from China showed the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell for the first time in 11 months as demand weakened and lower factory prices reduced profits.

The common currency Euro struggled for traction against the US Dollar but managed to eke out a small recover after the latest economic data and growing concerns over an early Italian election weakened sentiment for the Euro.

The Pound Sterling came under heavy pressure as the latest poll suggests that the Conservative Party, headed by Theresa May, the Prime Minister, may not obtain a majority after the upcoming June 8th election.

The Pound Sterling edged up versus the US Dollar as investors dismissed the latest opinion polls which showed a narrowing lead between Theresa May, the Prime Minister, and the Labour party candidate.

The dollar index was higher on Tuesday morning as the euro and British pound faced political pressure as UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s lead over the opposition narrowed to just six percentage points.

Just last week, on May 24, bitcoin hit an all-time high of $2,791.69. But on Monday, despite low volatility due to holidays in China, the United Kingdom and the United States, the crypto-currency fell 18.7 percent, or $520, according to data from CoinDesk.

Despite holidays in China, the U.S. and the United Kingdom, oil prices fell on Monday due to continued drilling in the U.S. which has continually undermined OPEC’s attempts to curb production and to stabilize oil prices.

There are again relatively high-impact news items scheduled this week, compared to last week. However, very important data and central bank input are due from the United States in the form of Non-Farm Payrolls, as well as from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

The latest drop in oil prices served to put sell pressure on commodity-linked currencies, including the Aussie, Kiwi and Canadian Dollars.

The US Dollar was on the backfoot during Thursday trading in London after the US central bank was seen as unexpectedly dovish in its latest policy minutes.

Asian shares were broadly higher on Thursday morning after the U.S. Federal Reserve took a cautious approach to future interest rate hikes and the plan to reduce its $4.5 trillion of bond holdings.