x
Once again gold and silver trade lower this morning but only marginally. The yellow metal is just under flat at $1737/oz while silver over around half a percent into the red at $25.64/oz.
After inheriting a positive close from Wall Street, the bourses in the Asia Pac area struggled. The Nikkei 225 (-0.61%), ASX (-0.11%) and Shanghai Composite (-0.93%) all closed in negative territory.
In FX markets, the dollar once again reigned supreme. This time it was the commodities currencies that suffered as CAD, NZD and AUD all traded lower against the greenback. NZD/USD was the worst-performing major down -1.09%.
In the rest of the commodities complex, there was more weakness. Copper and WTI are both down 0.77% but nickel was the only one to buck the trend and traded 1.14% higher.
We had some comments from ECB's Lane who said, PEPP purchases will show a substantial increase in a consistent way over several weeks.
Over in Asia, China says will promote the use of a safe travel pass between China and Russia.
This comes after, the U.S., Canada, U.K. and EU sanction China over the treatment of Uyghurs. China responded by adding 10 more EU individuals to their travel ban list.
On the plus side, China's Premier Li Keqiang says again economic growth this year could exceed a target of above 6%.
It has been reported that there are signs that North Korea is deploying multiple rocket launchers on a western border island.
In the UK, there are some vague reports that AstraZeneca may have provided outdated data about its COVID-19 vaccine trial, according to the NIH.
On the vaccine front, the Biden administration is concerned Johnson & Johnson may miss vaccine goal.
Sticking with the President, there are reports that Biden's Economic Advisors are ready to present the President with the $3 trl next phase of the stimulus plan.
Adding to this on the stimulus front, Japan's MoF announces stimulus spending to support firms, workers.
Overnight Fed head Powell said the Fed will continue to support the economy 'for as long as it takes'.
As the house prices continue to rise in New Zealand, the government announces new measures to curb the rises. NZ housing agency can borrow NZ$2bnb for land purchases. The government are looking to boost housing supply, infrastructure with NZ$3.8bn fund. The administration has also extended the horizon for tax on investment property sales.
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include the UK labour market report, ECB purchase data, US new home sales, NZ trade data, BoJ minutes and comments from BoE's Bailey, Cunliffe, Fed's Powell, Bullard, Bostic, Barkin, Williams and Brainard.
By Rajan Dhall
For Kitco News
