Daily Forex: the dollar has been rising on Thursday as investors look ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting at which the market expects a 25 basis point rate rise. The index tracking the world’s reserve currency is up 0.2% at 89.857. In the meantime, the euro is down 0.3% at $1.2333, while the pound is flat at $1.3956. Against the euro, sterling is 0.2% stronger, with £0.8835 required for a unit of the shared currency.

Oil prices are higher. Brent crude, the international benchmark, is up 0.4% at $65.17 a barrel after Opec lifted its demand forecasts as part of its latest monthly report on the industry, even as it warned of dangers from a potential trade war. Gold is 0.1% lower at $1,322.70 per ounce.

Wall Street stock indices are rising and a sense of cautious optimism is helping European bourses put in a steady showing while investors keep watch on Washington for any signs of more protectionist US trade policy.

The S&P is up 0.2 % in opening trade, bouncing back from a 0.6% fall over the previous session. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng recovered from an intraday drop of 0.8% to rise 0.3% overall. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax 30 is up 0.5%, with London’s FTSE 100 flat. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 is up 0.2%. Technology and insurance stocks are in demand.

Sources: 

https://www.ft.com/markets/currencies

https://www.ft.com/content/43e68c04-27f7-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0

https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/forex–dollar-pushes-higher-after-us-import-price-data-1343384

https://www.fxstreet.com/news/latest

https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/currencies

 

Trump made markets slip again. With Tillerson decision, and turmoils among his advisors who quit amid trade wars concerns US President sends strong uncertainty signals to markets, and not only within US. Asia equities down and Europe called lower amid US political uncertainty, US Treasuries yields fall as stocks stutter. Only oil prices are making good headlines, mainly due to China’s positive data outlook. Oil prices edge down after rocky trading on Tuesday.

Overnight on Wall Street the S&P 500 closed down 0.6% as the tech-focused Nasdaq dropped 1% after Mr Trump blocked Singapore-based Broadcom’s proposed $142bn takeover of Qualcomm on national interest grounds.

The combination of moves by Trump left investors scurrying for safety as global equities took a knock, the dollar fell and bonds rose.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (MIAPJ0000PUS) stumbled 0.7 percent, retreating from a 1-1/2 month high hit on Tuesday, with technology sector the biggest drag.

Japan’s Nikkei (N225) dropped 1 percent and South Korea’s Kospi index (KS11) declined 0.6 percent. China’s SSE (LON:SSE) Composite index (SSEC) and the blue-chip CSI 300 (CSI300) slipped 0.3 percent each.

The weakness followed overnight losses on Wall Street, with the Dow (DJI) off 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 (SPX) down 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) falling 1.0 percent.

Separately, Trump is looking to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports, targeted at information technology, consumer electronics and telecoms.

Oil prices edged up earlier on Wednesday after posting two days of declines at the start of the week.

Support also came from China, where January-February domestic crude oil production fell 1.9 percent on the year to 30.37 million tonnes, equivalent to 3.77 million barrels per day (bpd), according to data from the National Statistical Bureau on Wednesday. At the same time, crude oil throughput rose 7.3 percent to 93.4 million tonnes, implying a need for more imports.

China’s industrial output grew 7.2 percent in the first two months of the year compared with the same period last year, beating expectations of a 6.1 percent hike.

Sources: 

https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/oil-prices-fall-on-relentless-rise-in-us-crude-output-1338074

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/asian-shares-slip-as-tillerson-exit-tariffs-raise-protectionism-fears-1340301

https://www.investing.com/news/

https://www.ft.com/content/8fa467aa-2721-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0

https://www.fxstreet.com/t/news?utm_expid=.kos2fgywQI2pDavx6HhkxQ.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fxstreet.com%2Ft%2Fnews

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-14/trump-moves-closer-to-presidency-of-one-with-tillerson-firing

U.S. stock index futures trimmed early gains on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service!” has twitted President of USA sending markets down. Stock markets move lower after Tillerson sacking but there is also a US inflation figures for February that definitely play a role.

In currencies, the dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of peers, reversed course into negative territory after President Trump’s announcement. The yen pared losses to stand 0.5% lower at ¥106.90 per dollar and the pound was up 0.3% at $1.3949. The euro was 0.3% firmer at $1.2365.

US inflation figures for February rise 0.2% as expected before. While investors may have been whipsawed by January’s employment situation report, which showed a surprise jump in wage inflation, that is not translating into consumer price inflation. A 2.2% year-on-year rise, up from 2.1% in January, was also as forecast. The US Federal Reserve targets a 2% inflation rate and policymakers next meet on March 20 when they are expected to lift interest rates.

Stock exchanges: European bourses shift lower and gains for US futures trimmed. Frankfurt’s Dax index has edged down 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 is off 0.4%, the pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 is down 0.2%

Brent trading under $65 a barrel. Oil prices dipped after falling in the previous session on concerns that growing US shale output could undermine efforts by Opec and its allies to cut production. US marker West Texas Intermediate was down 0.6% at $60.98 a barrel after retreating 1.1% on Monday. Brent crude slipped 0.3% to $64.76 a barrel after shedding 0.8% in the previous session.

Sources: 

https://www.ft.com/content/1736cba0-2663-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0

https://www.ft.com/content/1736cba0-2663-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0

https://www.investing.com/news/economy-news/top-5-things-to-know-in-the-market-on-tuesday-1338417

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/stock-futures-edge-higher-ahead-of-inflation-data-1338726

https://www.fxstreet.com/t/news?utm_expid=.kos2fgywQI2pDavx6HhkxQ.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fxstreet.com%2Ft%2Fnews

https://www.fxstreet.com/currencies/eurusd?utm_expid=.3P9hKnebQNiWu3C5ouyZdg.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fxstreet.com%2Ft%2Fnews

https://www.fxstreet.com/currencies/gbpusd

https://www.fxstreet.com/currencies/usdjpy

https://www.fxstreet.com/currencies/audusd

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-13/trump-says-pompeo-to-replace-tillerson-as-secretary-of-state

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-13/u-s-inflation-firmed-in-february-without-outsize-acceleration

Markets are halted in the expectations of U.S. inflation data later in the day which could offer clues on the pace of interest rate rises this year. Most experts await core CPI to have slowed but remain solid at 0.2% month-on-month in February, following a 0.5% rise in January.

Stock Exchanges update: Frankfurt’s Dax index has edged up 0.02%, London’s FTSE 100 is off 0.07%, the pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 is down 0.08%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was Asia Pacific’s worst performer, down 0.4%, breaking a three-day run of gains. China’s CSI 300 index, tracking Shenzhen and Shanghai stocks, was off 0.9% while South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4%. On Wall Street, gains for US technology stocks pushed the Nasdaq Composite 0.4% higher while the S&P 500 ended 0.1% lower and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%.

Currencies update: the dollar index strengthened 0.2% to 90.067. The yen weakened 0.5% to ¥106.93 per dollar and the pound was 0.1% weaker at $1.3891. The euro was 0.1% off at $1.2317.

Commodities: Oil prices dipped after falling in the previous session on concerns that growing US shale output could undermine efforts by Opec and its allies to cut production. US marker West Texas Intermediate was down 0.2 per cent at $61.24 a barrel after retreating 1.1 per cent on Monday. Brent crude slipped 0.2 per cent to $64.84 a barrel after shedding 0.8 per cent in the previous session

Sources: 

https://www.fxstreet.com/currencies/eurusd?utm_expid=.3P9hKnebQNiWu3C5ouyZdg.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fxstreet.com%2Ft%2Fnews

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/asia-stocks-edge-up-on-tech-shares-us-inflation-data-awaited-1338024

https://www.ft.com/content/1736cba0-2663-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0