ECONOMY
On Wednesday, Asian shares were subdued as initial enthusiasm over the latest U.S.-China trade truce was overtaken by fresh concerns over Washington's threat of tariffs on additional European goods.
Global growth concerns also weighed on investor confidence, with South Korea the latest trade-reliant economy to cut its economic growth and export targets, a day after weaker factory readings worldwide.
Christine Lagarde has been tapped as the next president of the European Central Bank, an appointment that would make her the first woman to lead the powerful institution.
The European Council announced Tuesday that Lagarde, the current head of the International Monetary Fund, had been chosen to succeed Mario Draghi, whose eight-year term ends in October.
India’s state-owned banks had classified 1.50 trillion rupees ($21.76 billion) worth of loans as “wilful defaults” in 2018-19, with the biggest lender State Bank of India accounting for nearly a third, the finance minister said in the parliament.
India’s gold imports rose 12.6% in June from a year earlier to $2.69 billion amid a jump in global prices to six-year highs, a government source said on Tuesday.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Tuesday U.S. trade talks with China are heading in the right direction and any concessions to Beijing on Huawei Technologies were small in the context of a larger trade deal.
U.S. bond yields also tracked a decline in their British counterparts to 2-1/2-year lows on dovish-sounding comments from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, which in turn weighed on the pound.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield extended an overnight fall and brushed a fresh 2-1/2-year low of 1.965%.
CURRENCY
The dollar struggled on Wednesday, having been nudged off two-week highs as fading optimism over any near-term Sino-U.S. trade deal revived safe-haven demand and drove U.S. yields down.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies stood at 96.742 after pulling back from 96.875 scaled on Tuesday, its highest since June 20.
The pound was steady at $1.2597 after shedding 0.35% the previous day, when it touched a two-week trough of $1.2584.
The dollar traded at 107.83 yen , having been nudged off a 12-day high of 108.535 scaled at the start of the week.
The euro was little changed at $1.1291 following a volatile session on Tuesday, when it swung between a low of $1.1275 and a high of $1.1322.
COMMODITY
On Wednesday, Oil prices edged higher, steadying after a more than 4% fall in the previous session, as extended output cuts by OPEC and its allies helped underpin prices despite growing concerns about weak demand.
An expected large draw in crude oil inventory in the United States also buoyed sentiment after a bigger-than-expected fall in inventories in a private survey.
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