ECONOMY
On Monday ,MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.35%. Asian Indices rose as signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks and firmer Wall Street shares supported sentiment, although another defeat for British Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal added to the pound’s recent woes.
South Korea's exports contracted for a fourth month in March but at a slower rate in a sign of continued strain on the trade reliant economy, putting pressure on policymakers to shift to an easing stance to ward off growing external risks.
On Monday a survey showed Irish manufacturing activity grew at an almost identical rate in March compared to a month earlier, as further stockpiling ahead of Brexit mostly offset a dip in the level of output growth.
On Sunday , China released factory activity data , showed unexpectedly grew for the first time in four months in March, suggesting government stimulus measures may be starting to have an impact.
The United States and China said they made progress in trade talks that concluded on Friday in Beijing, with Washington saying the negotiations were “candid and constructive” as the world’s two largest economies try to resolve their drawn out trade war.
On Friday , British lawmakers rejected Prime Minister May’s Brexit deal for a third time on Friday, sounding its probable death knell and leaving the country’s withdrawal from the European Union in turmoil.
CURRENCY
The greenback had benefited from the flagging pound, which was on track to post its fourth day of losses in the wake of the ongoing Brexit saga. The dollar index in early Asia mild south at 97.223 after going as high as 97.341 on Friday, its strongest since March 11.
The pound was down 0.1 percent at $1.3021.
The euro was a touch higher at $1.1223.
EM ASIA FX-Most up, Philippine peso gains most.
The Chinese yuan also gained 0.2% in offshore trade to 6.711 to the dollar.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged up to a six-day high of 2.433 percent, pulling away from a 15-month low of 2.340 percent brushed on March 25. The Treasury 10-year yield had sunk to the 15-month low as risk aversion driven by concerns toward a global economic slowdown gripped the financial markets toward the end of March.
COMMODITY
Oil prices posted their biggest quarterly rise in a decade during the January-March, as U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela as well as OPEC-led supply cuts overshadowed concerns over a slowing global economy.
Brent crude up by 0.64%, at $68.01 a barrel, having risen 27% in the first quarter. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 0.58%, to $60.47 barrel, after posting a rise of 32% in the January-March period.
Malaysian palm oil futures edged down at the close of trade on Friday, recording a fifth session of losses in six and tracking weakness in China's Dalian Commodity Exchange.
U.S. corn futures tumbled more than 4 percent on Friday in the market's steepest drop in nearly three years after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated U.S. stocks and projected spring plantings above nearly all trade estimates.
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