x
Gold and silver trade marginally lower heading into the European cash equity open.
Gold is 0.13% down at $1741.70oz while silver has lost 0.16% and trades near $25.10/oz.
It was another mixed session for the indices in the Asia Pac area. The Nikkei 225 (0.12%) and ASX (0.61%) closed higher while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.29%.
In the FX space, USDCAD was the biggest mover and rise 0.30% followed by GBPUSD which lost 0.24%. The dollar index trades flat. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper is nearly half a percent in the red and spot WTI is 0.30% in the black.
On the coronavirus news front, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are reportedly about to announce that blood clot cases are 'likely' linked to AstraZeneca vaccine. Sticking with the COVID-19 news, Germany are set to miss out on up to 878,400 vaccine doses from Moderna this month. Adding to the vaccine tussle, Australian PM Morrison wants to talk with the EU about getting more vaccine doses.
Over in Japan PM Suga says a snap election before the end of September is "a possibility". He said, “There’s certainly a chance of dissolving parliament before the LDP leadership race,”.
On the data front, there were some Australian (final) Markit PMIs for March. Services hit 55.5 (prior 53.4) and this took the composite reading to 55.5 (prior 53.7). Australia also had their AiG construction PMI for March which came in at 61.8 (prior 57.4).
There were some comments from US President Biden near the U.S. close. He said he will not be telling the Federal Reserve what to do, preserving their independence. He also said the good news is that vaccinations are progressing quickly.
The International Monetary Fund said the global economy will expand 6% this year, up from the 5.5% pace estimated in January. The report said China will contribute more than one-fifth of the total increase.
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include composite and services PMI's from the major nations, Canadian Ivey PMI, DoE's, U.S. & Canadian trade balance and the all-important FOMC meeting minutes.
By Rajan Dhall
For Kitco News
