Gold and silver struggle leading into the EU open
Gold and silver have moved lower overnight into pretty bearish territory. After a good start to the session yesterday, both precious metals closed lower and leading into the EU open gold trades at $1719/oz.
All of the major bourses in the Asia-Pac area are in the red as risk sentiment was poor. The Nikkei 225 closed down 0.86%, the ASX moved 0.40% lower and the Shanghai Composite is 1.21% in the red.
In the FX markets, the dollar traded higher against most of its major counterparts. Out of the major pairs, NZD/USD was the biggest movers trading 0.50% in the red. In other commodities market, the negative sentiment hit spot WTI (-0.19%) and copper (-0.32%) too.
Lots of news from central banks overnight but first up, ECB's de Guindos said "If the yield rise has a negative impact on financing conditions, we are open to recalibrate.".
China's banking regulator Chair says China to reduce leverage, for a while China had been pumping liquidity into the markets it seems as if there could be a pause. On the other end of the scale, further stimulus could be coming from South Korea as they announce an extra budget.
We also heard from RBNZ's Hawkesby who said the bank can cut cash rate if needed, can increase bond purchases if needed.
It was also the Reserve Bank of Australia meeting overnight, the RBA decided to maintain the current policy settings. The board does not expect tight labour market, high wages growth until 2024 at the earliest. On the positive front, the Australia economic recovery well underway, stronger than was earlier expected.
The FT reported overnight that the Brazilian variant of the coronavirus evades natural immunity and the current vaccines could be less effective.
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include German employment data, EU CPI, Canadian GDP and we are also set to hear from Fed's Daly, Brainard, ECB's McCaul, Panetta,
By Rajan Dhall
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