x
Gold and silver are having a good start to the week. The yellow metal is trading 0.30% higher at $1836/oz while silver is 1% higher at $27.70/oz. Copper is once again one of the best performing commodities overnight moving 2.70% higher.
In terms of risk sentiment overnight the Nikkei 225 (0.55%) and ASX (1.30%) both traded well. The Chinese bourses however struggled, the Shanghai Composite dropped -0.09% and the A50 lost 1.15%.
In the FX markets, the dollar index (-0.01%) is trading just under flat but the biggest mover was GBP/USD (0.56%). This could be a reaction to the regional election news over the weekend where the conservatives continued to take more seats from rival parties.
Looking at the news from the weekend and Asian session, ECB's Lane has said the ECB are to assess PEPP in June and the bank could raise or cut purchases. We also heard from ECB's Rehn who wants the Bank to adopt the Fed's inflation target approach.
Fed's Kashkari says the US labor market remains in a “deep hole”, needs aggressive support. He added "We are still somewhere between 8 and 10 million jobs below where we were before the pandemic".
US government declared a state of emergency over fuel pipeline cyber-attack. US Gasoline futures surged higher after a huge US east coast pipeline shutdown.
On the data front, Australian retail sales for March moved +1.3% higher m/m (vs. preliminary +1.4%,prior -0.8%), business confidence also surged 26 (prior 17) & conditions 32 (prior 24).
Dogecoin dived from its all-time high after one of its most famous cheerleaders, Elon Musk, jokingly called it “a hustle” on late-night TV.
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include EU Sentix investor confidence and ECB asset purchase data.
By Rajan Dhall
For Kitco News
