· Dollar languishes near three-year lows as Fed’s Powell stokes reflation bets
The safe-haven U.S. dollar languished near three-year lows versus riskier currencies on Thursday as continued dovish signals from the Federal Reserve stoked reflation bets.
The greenback sank to a fresh low against the Australian dollar, and held near lows set overnight against its British, Canadian and New Zealand peers.
Fed Chair Powell reiterated on Wednesday that the central bank wouldn’t adjust policy until the economy is clearly improving, and will look through any near-term spike in inflation. The remarks to the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services mirrored his testimony before the Senate the day before.
“Powell made it very clear that the improvement in the economic outlook thus far will not instigate the Fed to tighten monetary policy,” National Australia Bank foreign exchange strategist Rodrigo Cattrill wrote in a client note.
Easy financial conditions, the promise of fiscal stimulus and an accelerating COVID-19 vaccine rollout have driven money into what’s come to be known as the reflation trade, referring to bets on an upswing in economic activity and prices.
Commodity-linked currencies are placed to benefit from a pick-up in global trade, while investors have also cheered Britain’s progress in recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
Australia’s dollar rose 0.1% to $0.79717 on Thursday in Asia after earlier touching a fresh three-year high of $0.7975.
The New Zealand and Canadian dollars traded just off Wednesday’s multi-year highs.
Sterling was little changed at $1.4143 after pushing to the cusp of $1.43 overnight for the first time since April 2018.
The euro traded near the top of its recent range at $1.2168, near the almost one-month high of $1.2180 touched earlier this week.
The dollar strengthened though against other traditional safe haven currencies, rising 0.1% to 105.94 yen for a third day of gains. It held near the three-month high of 90.945 Swiss francs reached overnight.
· U.S. should expedite AstraZeneca vaccine authorization before new Covid variants spread, Dr. Peter Hotez says
Dr. Peter Hotez told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that people in the U.S. should not become complacent because of dropping Covid cases, especially amid new reports of a new variant, B.1.526, spreading in New York.
“We’re all high fiving ourselves because the numbers are going down, and I am saying that we are in the eye of the hurricane, and the next big wave is coming,” said Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital.
· South Korea preps coronavirus vaccines after political scuffle over first shots
· Singapore's first Chinese COVID-19 vaccines arrive ahead of approval
Singapore received its first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine made by China’s Sinovac Biotech on Tuesday, its health ministry said, although the shot is still awaiting approval for use in the city-state.
Sinovac has started submitting initial data but the Health Sciences Authority is currently awaiting all the necessary information to carry out a thorough assessment, the ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday.
· U.S., allies respond to Iranian 'provocations' with studied calm
In the week since Washington offered to talk with Tehran about reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran has curbed U.N. monitoring, threatened to boost uranium enrichment and its suspected proxies have twice rocketed Iraqi bases with U.S. soldiers.
· Biden to press for $37 billion to boost chip manufacturing amid shortfall
· China's Xi trumpets 'victory' in campaign to end rural poverty
· China vows five-year plan dedicated to climate, but growth, security concerns weigh
· China says U.S. undermining stability after U.S. warship sails through Taiwan Strait
· Southeast Asia's biggest travel app plans regional fintech expansion before 2021 listing
Traveloka, Southeast Asia’s largest online travel startup, plans to launch financial services in Thailand and Vietnam as it eyes a U.S. listing through a blank-cheque company, its president said.
· EU, U.S. concerned over Malaysia's deportation of Myanmar nationals, after a military coup in defiance of a court order halting the plan.
· Facebook bans Myanmar military from its platforms with immediate effect
Facebook on Thursday said it had banned the Myanmar military from using its Facebook and Instagram platforms with immediate effect, as weeks of mass demonstrations continue in the Southeast Asian country after the military seized power.
· Japan set to halt new development aid to Myanmar: Asahi daily
Japan is finalising plans to halt new development aid to Myanmar, the Asahi Shimbun daily reported on Thursday, as Western allies impose sanctions and threaten further action over the Southeast nation’s military coup.
· Opponents, supporters of Myanmar coup scuffle as more protests planned
Opponents, supporters of Myanmar coup scuffle as more protests plannedSupporters and opponents of Myanmar’s military clashed on the streets of Yangon on Thursday as authorities blocked students from leaving their campus to march, a day after a first flurry of diplomacy aimed at resolving the crisis.
· OPEC+ to look at a production hike from April
The recovery in crude oil prices caused oil producers in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to discuss at their next meeting a modest easing of supply cuts, starting in April, according to the group's sources.
However, some members of the organization suggest staying strong for now, at the risk of further setbacks in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Increased infections (coronavirus) and growing uncertainty have made the global economic recovery more fragile," the group's experts said in their latest monthly report. Previously, the organization cut production by a record 9.7 million bpd last year, when demand plummeted due to the pandemic. In February, it continued to retain 7.125 million bpd, about 7% of global demand.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, BBC
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