The dollar plunged severely against its counterparts on Monday due to concerns over the monetary policy. Fed’s William Dudley stated that investors see Fed’s decision data dependent according to the last year’s stance of the Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. The greenback gain significant ground on the prospect of Fed to adopt a tightening policy, however, not that policymakers turn the outlook dovish, domestic currency is losing its momentum to rise.
China’s premier says economy showing positive signs
China’s economy has shown positive signs in the first few months of the year, but it still faces strong headwind and supply-side structural reform is needed to help stabilize growth, said China’s Premier Li Keqiang on Monday.
Li said at a meeting with several provincial governors that local governments should continue to cut red tape and implement tax breaks, especially to help small businesses.
He also repeated that local governments should work to reduce overcapacity in the steel and coal sectors and use debt-to-equity swaps to help companies lower their debt.
China’s economic growth slowed to 6.9% in 2015, its weakest performance in a quarter century. The growth in the first quarter of this year is expected to slow further to 6.7%, according to a median forecast of 14 economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. China’s statistics bureau is set to release the data on Friday.
Japanese officials’ warnings aimed at blunting yen’s strength
Japanese officials have sought to contain the currency’s rise through verbal warnings about potential action. A stronger yen can complicate the Bank of Japan’s plans to spur economic growth by making the country’s exports less competitive globally.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga recently reiterated that the yen’s recent gains were “one-sided” and were caused by speculative trading. He said the country stands ready to take action against excessive yen movements if necessary. Mr. Suga also noted that the pact among world leaders to not competitively devalue their currencies doesn’t directly rule out weakening the yen, according to analysts at Commonwealth Foreign
Greece bailout negotiations take timeout for IMF meetings
ATHENS — Greece and its creditors paused negotiations early Tuesday without reaching an agreement over the country’s bailout review and will continue next week after the International Monetary Fund’s annual spring meetings, according to the Greek Finance Minister.
“Progress has been made on the issues needed in order to have a deal,” Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said. Tsakalotos said the bailout inspectors would return to Athens on April 18, immediately after the IMF spring meetings in Washington, D.C., to continue talks before a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers April 22.
Creditors are seeking a Greek commitment to budget savings, centered on overhauls of pensions and income taxes, worth about €5.4 billion, or 3% of Greece’s gross domestic product.
Oil prices were stable on Tuesday
Oil prices were stable on Tuesday, with U.S. crude futures holding above $40 per barrel and Brent approaching $43 ahead of a meeting of major producers to discuss freezing output levels to rein in ballooning oversupply.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were trading at $40.45 per barrel at 0651 GMT, up 9 cents from their last settlement.
International Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 5 cents at $42.88 a barrel, only 18 cents off their 2016-high reached the previous day.
Most analysts expect producers to freeze output around current levels, which being beyond consumption and close to record levels would do little to address the glut.
Analysts at Energy Aspects said there was "little doubt" that fundamentals would improve markedly from June because of maintenance in the North Sea and Russia as well as falling output in Brazil and also the United States.
Oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose by 40,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 32.38 million b/d in March, driven by sanctions-free Iran, according to the latest survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts by Platts, the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets.
Iran's output in March climbed by 110,000 b/d from the previous month to 3.23 million b/d. Its production is up 340,000 b/d since December, as it seeks to regain its former share of the global oil market. The rise is less dramatic than the country's leaders had predicted, but it is still a notable increase as former buyers return to the market.
Reference: FXStreet, MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, PR Newswire
Thai
Eng