EQUITIES
Shares in Asia-Pacific were lower on Friday trade. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 shed -0.51%, and in South Korea, the KOSPI down -0.49%. Elsewhere, Australia shares declined as the S&P/ASX 200 fell -0.78%, and the BSE Sensex edged -0.70% lower. The mainland Chinese stocks also edged lower, with the Shanghai composite slipped -0.51%, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng stumbled most, down -1.61%.
The Singapore’s Straits bucked the overall market trend, to advance 0.32% higher.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes hit record levels on Thursday on earnings boost. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.42%, to 33,962.76, the S&P 500 gained 0.70%, to 4,212.26 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.72%, to 14,152.75.
OIL
Oil edged lower on Friday on concerns of wider lockdowns in India and Brazil, but prices are still held near six-week highs and heading for a weekly gain as signs of strengthening demand from the U.S. to China stoked optimism the recovery from the pandemic is accelerating.
he Brent crude futures traded at $68.23 per barrel, and U.S. crude futures traded at $64.63 per barrel.
Overnight, the Brent closed at $68.56 while WTI ended at $65.01 per barrel.
CURRENCIES
The U.S. dollar last traded at 90.64 against a basket of its peers. The dollar index is down from levels above 91.2 reached in the previous week.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 1.690%, its highest in more than two weeks, and last stood at 1.650%.
GOLD
Gold prices fell on Friday, on track to post their worst week in a month. The spot gold slipped to trade at $1,766.40 an ounce and declined to $1,766.20 per ounce for gold futures. Previously closed at $1,772.00 and $1,768.30, respectively.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asia-Pacific markets struggled for gains Friday as investors turned cautious, despite a positive finish stateside in the previous session on strong U.S. economic data and the Fed’s commitment to continue supporting the economy fuelled investors' appetite for risk.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes hit record levels on Thursday after stellar earnings from Apple and Facebook powered a rally in tech stocks, while upbeat economic data supported bets of a swifter economic recovery.
U.S. GDP rose 6.4% and the labor market report showed 553,000 people filed for state unemployment benefits last week, compared with 566,000 in the prior period.
Federal Reserve said it was too early to consider rolling back emergency support for the economy, and US President Joe Biden proposed a US$1.8 trillion stimulus package.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that "it is not time yet" to begin discussing any change in policy after the central bank left interest rates and its bond-buying programme unchanged, despite taking a more optimistic view of the country's economic recovery.
China’s factory activity expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in April as the official manufacturing PMI fell to 51.1, from 51.9 in March.
Among corporate earnings due today include Exxon Mobil, Chevron and AbbVie.
To date, number of confirmed worldwide cases for COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed 150.12 million, recording more than 3.16 million fatality globally.
TECHNICAL OUTLOOK
[USDJPY]
Important Levels to Watch for Today:
- Resistance line of 109.352 and 109.666.
- Support line of 108.334 and 108.020.
Commentary/ Reason:
The dollar stood at 108.830 yen, slipped off its 2-week high recorded yesterday.
A higher U.S. bond yields helped the dollar held further decline.
The strength in the safe-haven demand for the yen came as stock index turned lower on the day.
Japan cabinet approves use of 500 billion yen ($4.59 billion) of reserves to support pandemic-hit businesses.
The USD/JPY is struggling to find traction to resume the previous rally. There appears to be little appetite from sellers and longer-term sentiment is clearly bullish. The ascending trendline will continue to act as support. Momentum indicators have upward trajectories.
