Dollar Holds Losses as Investors Await Fed Speeches for Clues

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The dollar held losses against the euro and the yen as investors look to speeches by Federal Reserve officials for clues on monetary policy.

A gauge of the greenback against major peers dropped the most since October 2011 last week as banks including HSBC Holdings Plc said the currency’s surge since August is coming to an end. Officials scheduled to speak on Monday include Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, a non-voting member, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams, who does vote on policy.

The dollar traded at $1.0832 against the euro at 8:46 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.0821 Friday, after slumping 3 percent last week. It was little changed at 120.03 yen after sliding 0.6 percent on Friday.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent to 1,194.12, after tumbling 2.2 percent last week.

Hedge funds trimmed their bullish dollar futures positions to the least since December, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Net futures position betting on a stronger greenback versus eight major peers in this category reached a record 448,675 contracts in January.

Source : Bloomberg

Gold Extends Weekly Climb After Dollar Drops Most Since 2011

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Gold headed for the longest run of gains since October, rising for a fourth straight day, as the dollar held a weekly loss after the Federal Reserve reduced projections for U.S. interest-rate increases.

Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.4 percent to $1,187.31 an ounce and was at $1,186.68 at 8:01 a.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal rallied 2.1 percent last week, rebounding from a three-month low on March 17, as the Bloomberg Dollar Index fell 2.2 percent.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen suggested last week that the U.S. central bank was in no hurry to raise rates, even as a statement after a policy meeting showed officials dropped a pledge to be patient on tightening. Traders had been exiting gold in anticipation of higher borrowing costs, which usually send investors to assets with better yield prospects such as stocks.

Fed officials on March 18 lowered their estimates for where borrowing costs will be at the end of 2015 to 0.625 percent, from December’s estimate of 1.125 percent. Gold typically trades counter to the U.S. currency.

Gold for April delivery traded at $1,186.30 on the Comex from $1,184.60 on March 20, when it capped a weekly gain.

Silver for immediate delivery increased 0.5 percent to $16.834 an ounce, extending last week’s 7 percent advance. Spot platinum added 0.1 percent to $1,140.13 an ounce, while palladium lost 0.1 percent to $776.10 an ounce.

Source : Bloomberg

Asian Stocks Extend Global Gains as Gold Climbs; Crude Retreats

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Asian stocks climbed, with the regional index extending gains at a six-month high after speculation the U.S. will hold interest rates near zero past mid-year fueled the biggest weekly surge in global equities since 2013. Crude oil declined, while gold advanced.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose a fifth straight day, adding 0.6 percent by 9:19 a.m. in Tokyo as Japan’s Topix index rose 0.7 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures climbed 0.1 percent following the gauge’s best week since the start of February. U.S. oil lost 1.2 percent, after jumping 4 percent on Friday, as Saudi Arabia said its was pumping near record amounts of crude. Gold extended its steepest weekly gain in two months. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell, bringing its two-day decline to 1.4 percent. Emerging-market currencies jumped.

Global equity values expanded by about $2.4 trillion last week as the Federal Reserve signaled a slower pace of monetary tightening than previously estimated amid a moderating economy. That knocked the greenback, with Bloomberg’s dollar gauge falling the most since 2011. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. reported its lowest annual profit Sunday since the start of the global financial crisis amid oil’s 46 percent slump. Taiwan updates its jobless rate today and Singapore posts inflation.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed in the first 50 minutes of trade, while the NZX 50 Index dropped 0.2 percent in Wellington. The Kospi index in Seoul. Both the Nasdaq Composite Index and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index came within 0.5 percent of record highs last week.

Source : Bloomberg

Japanese Shares Head for Seven-Year High as Global Rally Resumes

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Japanese stocks rose, with the Topix index headed for a seven-year high, as the rally in global equities resumed amid expectations the Federal Reserve will be slower to raise interest rates.

The Topix advanced 0.2 percent to 1,583.14 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, poised for its highest close since November 2007, after capping a ninth straight weekly gain. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.1 percent to 19,584.73. The yen traded at 119.95 per dollar after strengthening 1.1 percent last week. More than $2.4 trillion was added to the value of global stocks in the five days through March 20 as the Fed signaled a slower pace of raising interest rates.

The Topix climbed 12 percent this year through last week, making it the best performer among developed Asian equity markets tracked by Bloomberg, buoyed by central-bank stimulus and stock buying and the $1.1 trillion pension fund’s shift from bonds into the nation’s equities. Three other Japanese public pension funds with about 30.3 trillion yen ($252 billion) said last week they will adopt similar asset-allocation targets to the Government Pension Investment Fund, according to a joint statement on their websites.

E-mini futures on the S&P 500 Index added 0.1 percent after the underlying gauge rallied 0.9 percent on Friday, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced to the highest level in 15 years.

Source: Bloomberg