FOREX
Forex – The dollar rose on Monday from its biggest weekly fall in more than seven years against the yen but softened against other major currencies, in particular the Euro, which was helped by stronger German manufacturing data. Worries over Japanese policymakers' inability to stem the yen's rise pushed the dollar to an 18-month low in the first hours of Asian trade. It later bounced up 0.4 percent on the day. Finance Minister Taro Aso was quoted in Japanese media over the weekend as saying he viewed the yen's strength as "extremely concerning," stoking speculation the Bank of Japan might intervene to stem the currency's rise.
The dollar rose on Wednesday, rebounding from recent lows against the yen and euro as data on U.S. trade and factory orders eased some worries about the sub-1 percent growth path the world's biggest economy was stuck on in the first quarter. But a surprisingly weak report on private U.S. jobs growth in April and bets the Bank of Japan might not intervene soon to stem the yen's rise could help rekindle further losses on the greenback, analysts said. The greenback sagged to a near 19-month low of 105.52 yen overnight and touched its weakest against the euro since last August. The U.S. dollar was on track for its biggest weekly percentage decline against the yen since the 2008 financial crisis in the aftermath of the Bank of Japan's decision not to ease policy further, while strong Euro zone growth data boosted the Euro.
The dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Friday, as remarks on possible rate hikes in 2016 from a top Federal Reserve official pared some bets on a weaker greenback spurred by news of slower-than-expected domestic job growth in April. New York Fed President William Dudley told the New York Times it was reasonable to expect the U.S. central bank would raise policy rates twice in 2016 despite data that showed domestic hiring fell to 160,000 in April, its lowest in seven months. Dudley is a permanent voter on the Fed's policy-setting group and his view is seen as aligned with Fed Chair Janet Yellen.
INDICES
Indices - U.S. stocks rose on Monday as a weakening dollar and steadying commodity prices shifted investor sentiment from weak earnings and poor economic data in the first quarter to optimism about the second, also pushing U.S. Treasury yields higher. Wall Street shook off mixed manufacturing data to push equity markets higher, led by the consumer discretionary and financial sectors. U.S. manufacturing activity rose for a second straight month in April but at a slightly slower pace, as new orders and production fell. The market was buoyed as investors looked forward to a more constructive economy where a feebler dollar will boost U.S. exports, analysts said.
Global equity markets fell for a second straight day on Wednesday on mostly weak economic data while metals prices slipped on renewed concerns of a downturn in global growth. The U.S. services sector expanded in April as new orders and employment accelerated, but the growth outlook dimmed on another report showing private employers hired the fewest number of American workers in three years last month. In Europe, surveys indicated that growth in the euro zone will be slow but steady, underscoring concerns about the vulnerability of the bloc's upturn. Retail sales also fell across the euro zone as a whole in March, adding to the cautionary tone.
U.S. stocks ended slightly higher on Friday as investors warmed to data showing U.S. wage growth in April despite weaker-than-expected jobs growth, while the wages data also pushed longer-dated Treasury yields higher. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 160,000 jobs last month, far below the 202,000 economists polled by Reuters had forecast on average, and the fewest jobs added in seven months. The number cast doubts on whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by the end of the year. Average hourly earnings, however, rose 0.3 percent in April after a weak reading for March.
COMMODITIES
Commodities - Gold rose to a fresh 15-month peak on Monday in holiday-thinned trade as an early retreat in the dollar drove prices higher, though it later eased as the U.S. currency pared losses. Many Asian markets and London were closed for national holidays, dampening momentum in the precious metal, which posted its biggest weekly rally since early February last week, up more than 5 percent. That was chiefly driven by weakness in the dollar, which had its worst week since 2008 versus the yen after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly opted against further monetary easing. Gold fell 1 percent on Wednesday, falling further away from a 15-month high on pressure from the strong U.S. dollar, which retreated from recent lows against the yen and euro as U.S. trade and factory order data eased some worries. Gold is highly exposed to interest rates and returns on other assets, as rising rates lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullio n. Gold jumped 1 percent on Friday after U.S. non-farm payrolls data for April came in weaker than expected, boosting expectations the Federal Reserve will delay further interest rate increases. The Labour Department report showed the U.S. economy added 160,000 jobs in April, the fewest in seven months, and Americans dropped out of the labour force in droves, signs of weakness that cast doubts on whether the Fed will lift rates before the end of the year.
Sugar futures on ICE opened at a five-week high but quickly turned lower on Monday, pressured by profit-taking and a surprise jump in the speculative net long position, while coffee prices fell to a two-month low. Cocoa prices also fell, taking a pause after climbing to a 2016 high at technically overbought levels on Friday.
London soft commodity markets were closed for a bank holiday. Sugar futures on ICE jumped to a 1-1/2-year high on Wednesday as poor crop prospects in India, the world's second-biggest producer, were only partially offset by the strong start to the harvest in top grower Brazil. Cocoa futures fell from technically overbought levels, with the market's strong run-up appearing to have at least temporarily run out of steam and the New York market pressured by the weak British pound. Coffee futures were slightly higher. Cocoa futures on ICE on Friday extended their retreat from 2016 highs, with the New York market falling for its fifth straight session as the British pound dropped against the U.S. dollar and speculators sold weak positions. Coffee prices made their biggest rally since March on momentum, bursting above a 100-day moving average.
ENERGY
Crude Oil - Oil prices fell about 3 percent on Monday as production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries neared all-time peaks and record speculative buying in global benchmark Brent sparked profit-taking on last month's outsized rally. OPEC's crude production climbed in April to 32.64 million barrels per day, close to the highest in recent history. Iraq's April exports from southern fields increased, as did seaborne exports from Russia, the biggest exporter outside OPEC.
A bigger-than-expected build in U.S. crude inventories to fresh record highs pushed oil markets lower on Wednesday after an early rally over concerns about production cuts in Canada's oil sands region due to a wildfire. U.S. crude stocks, which have been setting record highs since January, grew 2.8 million barrels last week, government data showed, about a million barrels more than analysts' expectations. Gasoline stocks also posted a surprise increase.
Oil prices edged up on Friday, supported by an early dip in the dollar and a wildfire that has shrunk Canadian oil sands crude output by a third, but Brent still ended with its sharpest weekly drop in four months as investors cashed out of April's big rally. Reports of a militant attack on a Chevron platform in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region and a drop in the number of U.S. oil drilling rigs also helped lift prices on the day. The dollar, which has a huge impact on greenback-denominated commodities such as oil, was down most of the day before recovering in late trade.
Natural Gas – U.S. natural gas futures pulled back over 3 percent on Monday on forecasts for weaker heating demand over the next two weeks, after jumping almost 5 percent on Friday after a pipeline blast in Pennsylvania. After rising to a 12-week high on Friday, front-month gas futures for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 3.1 percent per million British thermal units at 9:44 a.m. EDT (1344 GMT).
U.S. natural gas futures on Wednesday edged higher for a fourth session in the last five as the power sector continues burning record amounts of the fuel to produce electricity despite seasonal forecasts calling for little heating or cooling demand. Despite a 6 percent decline on Monday, front-month gas futures for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange were up 7 percent over the past five days. On Wednesday, the contract rose 2.6 percent per million British thermal units, the highest close this week.
U.S. natural gas futures were little changed on Friday on steady forecasts calling for continued light heating and cooling demand through late May. Analysts noted the latest weather models forecast cooling demand would start to exceed heating demand in the lower 48 U.S. states over the next two weeks as summer approaches. Analysts have said prices this year will have to remain low to pressure producers to cut output and encourage power generators to continue burning gas instead of coal to prevent storage caverns from reaching peak capacity levels at the end of the April-October summer injection season after utilities left record amounts of fuel in storage following a warm winter a year earlier.
Source ↔ MP3 Lagu Baru
