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Both gold and silver are trading higher leading into the European open. The yellow metal is 0.19% up trading at $1873.90/oz while silver has pushed 0.25% higher to trade at $27.78/oz. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper is 0.82% higher and spot WTI is trading just over half a percent in the black.
The risk sentiment overnight improved somewhat after a couple of days of selling. The Nikkei 225 (0.19%), ASX (1.27%) and Shanghai Composite (0.08%) all traded higher overnight. Futures in the European markets are pointing towards a positive cash open.
After a bit of a resurgence on Wednesday, the dollar index has retraced -0.11%. The biggest mover overnight was AUD/USD which managed to climb 0.41%. In the crypto market, BTC/USD managed to bounce back from its lows ($30,000) to trade at $40,250.
Looking at some of the news from overnight, the Australian employment report showed a fall of -30.6K (vs exp +15.0K) people employed in April and the unemployment rate stands at 5.5%.
This morning German (April) PPI has printed at +0.8% vs +0.8% expected m/m.
UK PM Johnson says he is increasingly optimistic that coronavirus restrictions can end as planned on June 21.
The NZ budget panel says they expect a lower unemployment rate ahead.
The China State Council says will manage supply and demand to stabilize commodity prices.
After the recent sell-off in the crypto markets, there were reports that around US$8.6bn in crypto liquidated in the past 24 hours.
Reuters have reported that Ford (F:NYSE), SK Innovation are set to announce EV battery joint venture.
The U.S. has blocked a shipment of clothing from entering on forced labor suspicion concerns in China
Looking at central bank comments, ECB Schnabel says the bank sees no reason to hike rates.
China has blocked another Australian export into the nation (table grapes) and Australia's Trade minister seeking answers.
From the FOMC meeting minutes, there was a small hint that the FOMC committee could start talking about tapering in the coming months. Jackson Hole could be a good opportunity for this according to some analysts.
A union at the Escondida mine said they are prepared for a lengthy strike if BHP (BHP:LSE) sticks to their historic "awful attitude" but they said they are working on a draft to give to the firm.
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include U.S. initial jobless claims, Philly Fed manufacturing data. In terms of speakers, we could hear from ECB's Lagarde, BoC's Macklem, BoE's Cunliffe, ECB's Lane and German Buba's Mauderer.
By Rajan Dhall
For Kitco News
