Market News

Oil prices gained more than 1.5 percent during Monday’s Asian trading session after Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to extend their crude production cuts from the original near-term end date to March 2018.

There are fewer high-impact news items scheduled this week, compared to last week.

The New Zealand Dollar fell near to a 1-year trough against the US Dollar as concerns over the New Zealand economy trumped the recent bounce in the price of oil.

Oil prices enjoyed 3 percent gains overnight and extended their rally into Thursday, enjoying their biggest day of gains since December 1, 2016.

The US Dollar is currently under some pressure but earlier in the session it had held steady and near to an 8-week peak versus the Japanese Yen, the rise coming only after risk appetite recovered.

All eyes are on U.S. President Donald Trump who garnered international attention on Tuesday for the firing of FBI Director James Comey who has been openly leading an investigation into whether the Trump camp conspired with Russia to influence presidential campaign results last year.

The Pound Sterling held steady and traded close to a recently struck 7-month peak versus the US Dollar as investors await Thursday’s release of the inflation report by the Bank of England.

The win for Macron in the French Presidential election failed to provide any support for the Pound Sterling which held below the $1.30 level.

The euro hit a six-month high of $1.1024 against the U.S. dollar before retreating slightly, on the heels of centrist Emmanuel Macron’s resounding electoral victory.

There are fewer high-impact news items scheduled this week, compared to last week. There is highly important central bank input due from the Bank of England and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, as well as a slew of U.S. data at the end of the week.

The common currency Euro traded close to a 6-month peak versus the US Dollar during Asian trading today, on growing expectations that the outcome of the upcoming French presidential election will bring Emmanuel Macron a win.

The US Dollar was higher versus the Japanese Yen as investors’ hope for a June rate hike was revived by the federal Reserve statement released yesterday.

The dollar held onto recent gains on Thursday morning after the Federal Reserve made a hawkish policy statement on Wednesday afternoon to summarize its two-day policy meeting.

The US Dollar crept broadly higher as FX investors await the latest statement from the Federal Reserve Bank.

OPEC’s commitment to reducing oil output remained in place in April, reports out on Tuesday confirmed, with Saudi Arabia keeping below its production target.