Market Update

San Francisco Fed President and FOMC member Mary Daly on Wednesday said that the case for a 50 bps rate hike in May is now “complete” and that the Fed can also make an announcement on the reduction of its balance sheet at the next meeting, reported Reuters. Daly said …

A combination of factors assisted AUD/USD to gain strong positive traction on Wednesday. Hawkish RBA minutes extended support to the aussie amid a sharp USD corrective pullback. Bets for aggressive Fed rate hikes should limit the USD losses and cap the upside for the pair.The AUD/USD pair maintained its bid …

Existing-home sales fell for the second straight month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million. Sales were down 2.7% from the prior month and 4.5% from a year ago. With slower demand, the inventory of unsold existing homes increased to 950,000 as of the end of …

Annual headline inflation in Canada jumped to 6.7% in March, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday. That was well above the median economist forecast for a rise to 6.1% from 5.7% YoY in February. The larger than expected jump in the …

Bundesbank President and ECB governing council member Joachim Nagel said on Wednesday that he expects the ECB’s first rate hike to come in Q3 of this year, though he also said he is against hasty rate hikes. Nagel warned that getting inflation back to the ECB’s 2.0% target is looking …

The Japanese yen hit a new record low on Wednesday at a 20-year low after the Bank of Japan again intervened defending ultra-low interest rates in Japan, widening the spread with the United States as bond yields hit fresh new hard highs. The Bank of Japan again offered to buy …

On Wednesday, gold prices fell to their lowest in nearly two weeks, weighed down by persistently higher US bond yields and the dollar. By 0741 GMT, spot gold fell 0.4 percent to $ 1941.40 an ounce, and US gold futures fell 0.7 percent to $ 1944.80. On Tuesday, the price …

The prices of US natural gas contracts rose to their highest level in nearly 14 years when settling Monday’s trading, in conjunction with a drop in temperatures in the United States and the continued weakness of global supplies due to the Russian-Ukrainian war. Expectations have increased about the high demand …

On Wednesday, oil prices made up for the heavy losses incurred in the previous session, with attention focused on the short supply from Russia and Libya, while data showed a decline in US inventories last week. Brent crude futures rose 66 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $ 107.91 a barrel …

Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday for a second straight session, as technology heavyweights tracked Wall Street’s overnight gains, while the yen’s recent decline helped boost automakers’ shares. The Nikkei index closed up 0.86 percent to 27,217.85 points, while the broader Topix index closed up 1.03 percent to 1,915.15 points. “US …