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Gold and silver are heading into the EU session both trading higher. The yellow metal is 0.61% in the black trading at around $1736/oz while silver is 0.58% higher at $26.34/oz.
Overnight the risk sentiment in equities markets was pretty good as the Nikkei 225 (0.60%) and Shanghai Composite (2.36%) both traded higher but the ASX closed flat. This move came off the back of a fresh record high for the Dow last night.
The best-performing currency overnight was AUD as AUD/USD traded 0.46% higher and AUD/JPY moved 0.72% in the black. The Japanese yen has been underperforming against most of its major counterparts for a while now. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper trades 2.05% higher along with WTI which trades just above flat.
US official says US President Biden is still seeking to make the child tax credit permanent. This comes after the house of representatives passed Bidens $1.9trl stimulus package yesterday. He is now set to sign the deal on Friday.
Sticking with the stimulus bill, US Treasury Secretary Yellen said today was a pivotal day for the US economy (after the house approved the deal).
In terms of what comes next for the President, there are reports suggesting there will be a "China-related" spending bill which could include a focus on semi-conductor, 5G etc. Also according to US media reports Biden is looking to seek US bank buy is for infrastructure spending projects which could be valued at around $2.5trl.
On the geopolitical front, US Sec State Blinken says will take action against 'egregious' violations of human rights in Hong Kong.
Top US and Chinese officials are set to meet for a two-day summit in Alaska next week. Topics to discuss include climate change, COVID-19 and both nations stance on Hong Kong.
On the coronavirus front, there have been Asia travel bubble talks and it seems that Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam are looking to have pathways between them.
The Governor of Taiwan's central bank says the US may list Taiwan as a currency manipulator. This is interesting as SNB's Jordan spoke about the $100bln used to defend the Swiss Franc.
In Australia, there are warnings that there could be around 300,000 lost jobs once JobKeeper (wage subsidy) support ends. In the UK there could be the same problem once Furlough stops.
In Europe, the ECB has drafted a report that says they are not expecting a massive rise in inflation and they also assume savings will not fuel a spending boom (sources).
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include ECB policy announcement US ICJ, OPEC monthly report and comments from BoC Gov Council Member Schembri and ECB's Lagarde.
By Rajan Dhall
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