EQUITIES
Asia-Pacific markets were higher on Wednesday. The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led gains among the region’s major markets, jumping 1.69% by the afternoon. Mainland Chinese stock also rose as the Shanghai composite gained 1.33%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.24%, while the Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 at 0.79% higher. The South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 0.55%, the India’s S&P BSE Sensex index rose 0.99%, and the Singapore’s Straits Times index at 0.53% higher.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 143.99 points to close at 31,391.52. The S&P 500 slipped 0.81% to finish its trading day at 3,870.29 while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.69% to close at 13,358.79.
OIL
Oil prices were on the defensive as traders looking for some oil price directional clues later in the week on OPEC+ meeting. The Brent crude futures traded to $62.96 per barrel, while the U.S. crude futures at $59.90 per barrel.
Overnight, the Brent close at $62.70, while WTI futures ended at $59.75 per barrel, hitting a 2-week low.
CURRENCIES
The safe-haven US dollar remained broadly weaker on Wednesday as Treasury yields continued to retreat. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.80 steadied after dropping back from a nearly 1-month high overnight.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes stood at 1.4085%, down from last week's high of 1.614%, as Fed officials continued to downplay runaway inflation concerns.
Commodity-linked currencies including the Australian dollar and the Norwegian krone held on to sizeable 2-day advances. The Australian dollar rising to $0.7828 after stronger-than-expected GDP. The krone traded mostly flat after advancing about 1% in each of the past two sessions.
GOLD
Gold eased to trade at $1,733.80 an ounce, while slipped around $1,733.50 per ounce for gold futures. Previously closed at $1,738.30 and $1,733.60, respectively.
Silver at $26.67 an ounce. Platinum at $1,194.00, while palladium at $2,286.00.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian shares edged higher on Wednesday as investors focused on optimism of the global economic recovery and U.S. stimulus expectation, while shrugged off concerns that stocks may have rallied too far too fast in the past year.
Benchmark U.S. government bond yields dipped again for the third consecutive day as investors paused a recent sell-off ahead of a slew of U.S. economic data that will be released later this week.
The U.S. Senate will start debating President Joe Biden's relief bill this week, when Democrats aim to pass the legislation through a maneuver known as "reconciliation," which would allow the bill to pass with a simple majority.
The China’s Caixin/Markit services PMI came in at 51.5 for February, a decline from January’s reading of 52. While Caixin's composite PMI slipped to 51.7 in February, from 52.2 the previous month.
To date, number of confirmed worldwide cases for COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed 114.728 million, recording more than 2.548 million fatality globally.
TECHNICAL OUTLOOK
[USDJPY]
Important Levels to Watch for Today:
- Resistance line of 107.019 and 107.229.
- Support line of 106.340 and 106.131.
Commentary/ Reason:
The dollar added 0.2% to 106.873 yen, consolidating after retreating from the cusp of 107 overnight, a level unseen since August.
The Japanese yen weakened on Japanese economic data. Japan's service sector extended declines in February to shrink for 13th month as emergency weighs. The composite PMI also staying in contraction for a 13th month. Moreover, in the Japan’s monthly policy review held earlier today, dovish BOJ policymaker meanwhile calls for new strategy to beat price stagnation.
Concerns over the velocity of last week’s U.S. yield rise and near-term uncertainty over oil prices, and the possibility of the People's Bank of China delicately throttling down on policy support also seen as a worrying sign for Asian currencies growth prospects.
An easing of the pandemic in the U.S. is hawkish for Fed policy and supportive for the dollar as new daily U.S. pandemic infections on Sunday fell to a 4-1/2 month low of 51,367.
