2024-04-29 03:42:05
I started Asian stocks A positive start Monday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting later in the week. While gold and oil prices have fallen.
The dollar also rose above the key 160 yen level for the first time in decades.
Oil prices fell on expectations that rising U.S. interest rates for a longer period of time would reduce demand, while news of a possible ceasefire in Gaza eased concerns. fears of a supply shortage.
The dollar hit its highest level at 160.24 yen, its highest level in 34 years, in a sudden but short-lived rise during Asian trading hours.
Some analysts attributed the move to weak liquidity due to Japan’s holiday on Monday, as traders look to test the Japanese government’s resolve to defend the yen.
Despite the yen’s continued decline to multi-decade lows, Tokyo has so far resisted any intervention in the foreign exchange market, even as officials step up warnings against excessive yen movements.
The Bank of Japan kept interest rates at around zero on Friday after the monetary policy meeting and ruled out any complete reduction in its bond purchases.
In the stock market, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.56 percent, buoyed by Wall Street’s gains last Friday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.77 percent, while China’s main stock index rose 0.06 percent.
The Federal Reserve’s two-day monetary policy meeting, which begins Tuesday, takes center stage this week, with expectations pointing to the central bank keeping interest rates unchanged.
However, the focus will be on the central bank’s interest rate outlook, after a repeated round of better-than-expected US economic data and after inflationary pressures remained stable, leading to mixed market expectations as to when the Fed might begin its interest rate easing cycle.
The prospect of U.S. interest rates remaining in the restrictive zone for longer supported the U.S. currency, although it was broadly lower on Monday, falling against most currencies except the yen.
Against the dollar, the euro rose 0.21 percent to $1.0715, while the pound sterling rose 0.23 percent to $1.2522.
Oil and gold prices
In the commodities sector, Brent crude fell more than 1 percent to $88.55 a barrel, while U.S. crude also fell 1 percent to $83.02 a barrel.
Both have risen about 15 percent this year, partly due to fears of supply disruptions amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Gold fell 0.34 percent to $2,329.37 an ounce.
(Reuters)
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