The commodity-linked Australian dollar was last up 0.73 percent

FOREX

Forex – The U.S. dollar hit its lowest level against the yen in more than two weeks on Monday and was lower against a basket of major currencies on continued expectations of a slow path of Federal Reserve rate increases this year. The dollar, which posted its worst week in roughly two months last week, fell as low as 111.10 yen on Monday. Comments last week by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen that the central bank should proceed "cautiously" on raising interest rates continued to weigh on the dollar, analysts said.

The U.S. dollar hit a 17-month trough against the yen on Wednesday and remained broadly weaker on bets that the Bank of Japan would not intervene to halt the yen's rally and on Federal Reserve minutes that confirmed a dovish tone at the U.S. central bank. Analysts also said riskier and commodity-linked currencies gained against the dollar after data showing U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly fell from record highs last week, which led to more than 5 percent gains for U.S. crude oil prices. "That gave risky currencies a bit of a boost, and that is one of the factors weighing on the dollar," said Richard Franulovich, senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corporation in New York, in reference to the inventories data. The commodity-linked Australian dollar was last up 0.73 percent. The euro was last up 0.16 percent after hitting a session high, near Friday's 5-1/2-month high. The dollar hit a roughly 5-1/2-month low against the Swiss franc.

The dollar was down 0.3 percent against a basket of currencies on Friday, trading, as the greenback slipped versus the Swiss franc and fell against the Canadian dollar. The euro, meanwhile, rose 0.2 percent against the dollar

 

INDICES

Indices - The dollar edged lower on Monday on contradictory views of prospects for an increase in U.S. interest rates, while oil prices stayed under pressure on skepticism producers would be able to freeze output to stem a global glut. New orders for U.S. factory goods fell in February and business spending on capital goods was much weaker than initially thought, the latest sign first-quarter economic growth remained sluggish. The Dow Jones industrial average. DJI fell 0.31 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.32 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.46 percent. MSCI's index of world shares was flat. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 share index closed up 0.46 percent, led higher by gains in defensive sectors such as utilities and healthcare.

Global equity markets posted solid gains on Wednesday, aided by a climb in oil prices and a surge in healthcare stocks, while the U.S. dollar hit a fresh 17-month low against the yen after the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting. Stocks on Wall Street and in Europe bounced from declines of more than 1 percent in the prior session, led by energy and healthcare sectors. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.64 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.05 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.59 percent. MSCI's index of world shares rose 0.89 percent. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 share index closed up 0.76 percent after suffering its biggest drop in nearly a month on Tuesday.

Global equity markets advanced on Friday, buoyed by a jump in oil prices, but were lower for the week as the dollar gave up early gains against the yen. Global stocks were lifted by energy names, with Brent and U.S. crude oil jumping more than 6 percent as drawdowns in U.S. crude stocks fed hopes a punishing global glut that has persisted for nearly two years may be nearing a tipping point. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.28 percent and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.05 percent. Even with Friday's modest gains, the S&P 500 suffered its biggest weekly decline in two months.

 

COMMODITIES

Commodities - Gold fell on Monday after strong U.S. economic data boosted investor risk sentiment and a top U.S. Federal Reserve official said an interest rate hike is likely to take place ahead of the market's current expectations due to fading economic concerns. The precious metal fell 1 percent on Wednesday as a recovery in equities prompted some profit-taking after a rally the previous, while minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's last policy meeting showed concern about "appreciable downside risks" in the global economy. Gold weakened on Friday as strength in equities prompted investors to cash in some of the previous day's gains, remaining on track for its biggest weekly rise in five weeks as the Federal Reserve remained cautious on U.S. interest rate increases. Global stock markets rebounded but still were set to end a bruising and volatile week lower, fed by growing uncertainty surrounding the U.S. economic and policy outlook.

ICE raw sugar futures sank for the third straight session on Monday, falling more than 3 percent to a 3-1/2-week low after U.S. data showed speculators held a record long position, while Arabica coffee prices took their biggest tumble in two months. New York cocoa fell to a six-week low on improving supply prospects in West Africa after much-needed rains while demand expectations remained bearish. Raw sugar futures extended sharp losses as speculators sold positions after data released late Friday showed they had added to their net long position more than expected and for the fifth straight week.

Raw sugar and Arabica coffee futures on ICE turned down to reach one-month lows on Thursday, following the weakening currency in top grower Brazil, while Robusta pared gains after surging 4 percent in the first two minutes of trade. Cocoa fell, with attention centred on rainfall relieving development of heat-stressed mid-crops in West Africa. Sugar fell, pressured by favorable harvest conditions in Brazil and the weak Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar, which attracts producer and speculative selling.

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ENERGY

Crude Oil - Oil prices fell more than 2 percent on Monday, touching one-month lows, as investors doubted that producing countries will freeze output to rein in a worldwide glut. U.S. crude futures got only brief support from an outage on a pipeline that helps deliver oil to the U.S. storage hub. Traders were instead worried that U.S. crude stockpiles would hit record highs for an eighth straight week.

Oil prices rose 5 percent on Wednesday, their biggest advance in three weeks, after the U.S. government reported a surprise draw in domestic crude stockpiles versus market expectations for a new record high. After hitting one-month lows a day earlier, oil prices rallied by as much as $2 a barrel after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stockpiles dropped by 4.9 million barrels last week from lower imports and a continued ramp up in refinery runs.

Oil prices rose more than 6 percent on Friday to end with the biggest weekly gain in a month as drawdowns in U.S. crude stockpiles fed hopes that a punishing global oversupply may be approaching a tipping point after nearly two years. The shutdown of the Keystone crude pipeline to Cushing, Oklahoma supported U.S. crude futures. Oil also drew support after Russia said its crude output fell in April, ahead of a meeting of major oil-producing countries in Doha aimed at freezing output.

Natural Gas – U.S. natural gas futures gained over 2 percent on Monday, hitting their highest level in eight weeks, on forecasts for seasonally cool weather to linger over much of the country through late April. After rising over 8 percent last week on a technically-driven, short covering rally and the roll of the front-month to the more-expensive May contract, natural gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed up 2.1 percent.

U.S. natural gas futures on Wednesday slid by over 2 percent for a second day in a row, dipping to the lowest level in a week, as the market focused more on the near record high amount of gas in storage rather than on forecasts for cooler weather over the next two weeks. After rising to an eight-week high earlier in the week, front-month gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed down 2.2 percent.

Natural gas futures on Friday eased on forecasts for slightly less cold, near-normal weather over the next two weeks. Front-month gas futures on NYMEX closed down 1.39 percent. Despite the small decline on Friday, the front-month ended up about 2 percent for the week, its second consecutive weekly gain.