Asian Stock Market: Trades in green on Powell’s comments

Asian stocks kickstart fresh trading week on a higher note.
US Dollar Index plunges below 93.00 on FOMC Chair Powell’s comment.
Wall Street closed in the green on Friday but gains limited on coronavirus anxiety.

Rekha Chauhan Independent Analyst

Most of the Asia-pacific stocks trade higher on Monday following a round of gains on Wall Street.

Investors ditched the greenback after Powell said that the central bank is likely to begin tapering before the end of the year, but reaffirmed his stance that the bank is unlikely to hike interest any time soon.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.43% higher.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.34% on Monday after the policymaker induced optimism that they will continue to support China’s economic recovery.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.25%, as sentiment improved after Retails Sales data jumped higher in, July more than expected.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.28% higher, South Korea’s Kospi traded up 0.32%.

The ASX 200 fell 0.1% with investors being cautious about domestic COVID-19 situations. New South Wales reported a record 1,218 new cases on Sunday.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) trades lower below 93.00 with 0.07% losses.

Author

Rekha Chauhan

Independent Analyst

Rekha Chauhan has been working as a content writer and research analyst in the forex and equity market domain for over two years.

EUR/USD climbs to daily highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD now picks up pace and advances to the area of daily peaks north of the 1.1800 barrier at the end of the week. The pair’s decent move higher comes against the backdrop of a generalised lack of direction in the FX galaxy and the mild offered stance in the US Dollar.

GBP/USD trims losses, retests 1.3460

After briefly challenging its key 200-day SMA near 1.3440, GBP/USD now manages to regain some balance and revisit the 1.3460 zone on Friday. Cable’s pullback comes as the selling pressure on the Greenback gathers traction, reigniting some recovery in the risk-linked space.

Gold flirts with four-week highs past $5,200

Gold extends its rebound, climbing for a third consecutive session and pushing back above the $5,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The move higher continues to draw support from lingering geopolitical tensions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, both of which are keeping safe-haven demand firmly in play.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple consolidate with short-term cautious bullish bias

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are consolidating near key technical areas on Friday, showing mild signs of stabilization after recent volatility. BTC holds above $67,000 despite mild losses so far this week, while ETH hovers around $2,000 after a rejection near its upper consolidation boundary.

Changing the game: International implications of recent tariff developments

The Supreme Court ruling on International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs provides limited relief for the rest of the world, with weighted average tariff rates modestly lower.

Starknet unveils strkBTC, shielded Bitcoin transactions on Ethereum Layer 2

Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, today announced strkBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin asset that introduces optional shielding while preserving full DeFi composability.