The resurgence of broad-based US dollar demand remained the main underlying theme in the holiday-thinned Asian session, as the 10-year Treasury yields rally regained traction and rose above the 3 percent bulwark once again.
Hence, most majors remained suppressed amid a firmer greenback, but the Antipodeans suffered the most, as persisting risk-off trades also dented the sentiment around the higher-yielding currencies. Rising Treasury yields lift the borrowing costs for the corporates, which usually weigh negatively on the global equities, including the Asian indices.
Among the commodities, both crude benchmarks traded subdued amid rising US oil output while gold eased below the $ 1330 mark amid rising June Fed rate bets and receding trade war and geopolitical tensions.
Main topics in Asia
China's Dagong downgrades Canada's sovereign credit outlook to negative - Reuters
The news is crossing the wires via Reuters that China's Dagong Global Credit Rating Co, one of the country's major ratings firms, has downgraded Canada's sovereign credit outlook to negative.
Canada's Freeland: intensive NAFTA negotiations are ongoing, focusing on autos
Canada's Freeland says that he has had a set of "intensive" discussions with the US' Lighthizer on NAFTA auto rules of origin, while the other areas of NAFTA negotiation are apparently wrapping up nicely.
China Securities Journal: China doesn't need overly loose monetary policy - Bloomberg
Bloomberg is reporting on headlines in the Chinese press, these coming from the China Securities Journal.
PBOC cuts reserve requirement ratio
The news is crossing the wires via LiveSquawk that People's Bank of China (PBOC) has cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) again. The rate cut will come into effect from today.
US 10-year treasury yield hovers around 3% in Asia
The 10-year US Treasury yield is hovering around 3 percent in Asia and will likely scale the psychological barrier in a convincing manner soon.
Trump warns "bigger problems" if Iran restarts nuclear program - Xinhua News Agency
US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that Iran will have "bigger problems" if it restarts its nuclear program, according to Xinhua News Agency.
S. Korea official: S. Korea, US expected to hold summit in mid-May - Reuters
Reuters quoted a South Korean Presidential official on Wednesday, as saying that South Korea and the US are likely to hold a summit in mid-May.
Key Focus ahead
Traders gear up for another light session today, after the Asian trades thin volumes, with Australia and New Zealand out on Anzac Day. In Europe, the Italian markets will be closed in observance of Liberation Day while a data-empty docket will leave the fx markets at the mercy of the price-action around the US dollar and Treasury yields. Also, the sentiment on the European indices will be closely eyed, as attention now shifts towards tomorrow’s European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy decision.
The US session also remains quiet, with nothing of note in terms of the fundamentals news. However, the US EIA crude oil inventories data will remain in focus for a fresh take on the Loonie and oil prices.
EUR/USD: Pennant breakdown confirmed, but multi-week range still intact
The EUR/USD pair closed at 1.2208 on Monday, signaling a downside break of the bullish pennant pattern and despite the positive tone, it failed to re-enter the pattern on Tuesday.
GBP/USD clawing back into 1.40, looking for a reprieve from the sell-off
The Sterling managed to catch a small lift on Tuesday after five straight days of declines against the Greenback, which started off as a broad market recovery and developed some wheels as US 10-year Treasuries built into and then crossed over the key 3% yield mark
Investors fear that if the yield of 10-year government bonds this week will be fixed above the level of 3.0%, then a new wave of sales may start on the US stock market, which will provoke a drop on other world stock exchanges.
Dollar Index remains on hunt for a break above 91.00
The dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against majors, is mildly bid around 90.84 in Asia and could scale the 91.00 mark in a convincing manner if the 10-year treasury yield reports big gains above 3 percent.
ECB Preview: no fireworks expected this Thursday - Barclays
In the view of the Barclays Research Team, the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to make no changes to its monetary policy meeting when it meets this Thursday.
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