EQUITIES
Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday trade. Mainland Chinese stocks advanced, with the Shanghai composite rising 0.35%. Shares in Australia also rose, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.24%, while in South Korea, the KOSPI gained 0.29%. The broader Straits Times index in Singapore also traded higher, rising 0.37%.
Elsewhere, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong slipped about 0.62%, the Nikkei 225 in Japan declined 0.93%, and S&P BSE Sensex Index in India shed 0.20%.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.16%, to 34,934.27, the S&P 500 gained 0.09%, to 4,475.01 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.11%, to 14,124.10.
OIL
Crude oil retreated on Thursday after both France and Iran said parties are closer to an agreement to salvage Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, providing much-needed relief to global oil prices, as the possibility of new crude supplies reduces the supply-demand deficit.
Oil markets have been dominated in recent weeks by Russia's threatening posture toward Ukraine, with concerns that supply disruptions from the major producer in a tight global market could push oil prices to $100 a barrel.
The Brent now traded at $94.38 per barrel, while the U.S. crude futures traded at $93.00 per barrel.
Overnight, the Brent futures ends at $94.81 a barrel, while the WTI crude oil prices closed to $93.66 per barrel.
CURRENCIES
U.S. Treasury and eurozone government bond yields extended their decline on Thursday, pressured both by bets for a less hawkish Fed and demand for safe haven assets amid Ukraine uncertainty. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was down to 2.031%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against six major peers, edged slightly lower to 95.980.
The Russian ruble gained 0.7% to 75.70 per dollar as fears of immediate military action waned, for the moment.
GOLD
A softer dollar and lower yields combined with subdued risk sentiment helped to keep gold near its highest level since June 2021 reached Tuesday. It was last traded around $1,875.00 an ounce. U.S. gold futures added 0.28% to $1,876.70.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian equities were mixed on Thursday as investors weighed risks of a Ukraine invasion against signs that the U.S. Federal Reserve won't be as aggressive as feared in tightening policy.
In geopolitical developments, NATO on Wednesday accused Russia of increasing the number of troops it has gathered at the Ukrainian border, a day after Moscow claimed it had begun withdrawing some of its military units. A senior Biden administration official told reporters that as many as 7,000 troops have joined the 150,000 already near the border in recent days, according to NBC News report.
At the same time, worries about a super-hawkish Fed rate-tightening campaign, potentially including a 50 basis-point hike next month, took a step down overnight after minutes of the latest policy meeting signalled a more measured, data-dependent approach from central bank officials.
Fed policymakers agreed it was time to raise interest rates but that any decision would depend on an analysis of inflation and other data on a meeting-by-meeting basis, minutes from their two-day meeting in late January showed.
Stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales data and higher inflation readings from Canada and Britain added to the outlook for tighter monetary policy worldwide. Data in Britain showed consumer prices increased at the fastest annual pace in nearly 30 years, reinforcing chances that the BoE will raise rates for a third meeting in a row, while Canada's annual inflation rate also accelerated again in January to hit a fresh 30-year high of 5.1%, bolstering the case for a steady series of interest rate hikes.
Japan’s January exports came in far below expectations, with official data released Thursday showing a 9.6% year-on-year rise for that month, against expectations for a 16.5% gain.
Australia added 12,900 jobs for January, data released Thursday showed. The country’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Travel stocks in Singapore rose in Thursday trade, after the country’s authorities announced Wednesday plans to allow quarantine-free travel for all vaccinated visitors when the omicron wave has passed.
