ECONOMY
On Wednesday, MSCI broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1% in slow trade. Asian Indices subdued start after a mixed finish on Wall Street, while a frazzled pound awaited its fate ahead of yet another make-or-break parliamentary vote on Brexit.
India’s consumer prices rose at a faster pace than anticipated in February, and remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s target for a seventh straight month, lending weight to expectations that the bank could again cut the key interest rate in April.
Risk appetite had been dampened after British lawmakers crushed Prime Minister Theresa May’s European Union divorce deal, forcing parliament to decide within days whether to back a no-deal Brexit or seek a last-minute delay.
Parliament will vote later Wednesday on whether to leave the EU with no deal, and if that fails, a further vote on Thursday will decide whether to extend the Brexit deadline.
On Wall Street, Boeing Co shed another 6.1% for its biggest two-day drop since June 2009, as more countries grounded the company’s best-selling 737 MAX planes following Sunday’s crash in Ethiopia, the second fatal crash in months.
A soft U.S. inflation report for February burnished bonds while tarnishing the dollar. Annual consumer price inflation slowed to its lowest since September 2016 at 1.5%.
The data merely reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will stay patient on rates and could even sound more dovish at its policy meeting next week.
FOREX
The dollar fell for a third straight session against a basket of currencies to stand at 96.986.
The pound could do with some comfort after a wild couple of sessions. It was last at $1.3063, having been as high as $1.3296 and as low as $1.3017 so far this week.
PBOC sets yuan reference rate at 6.7114
USD/JPY was flat on the yen at 111.19.
Euro climbed to $1.1289 and away from last week’s 20-month trough of $1.1174.
GBP/USD steady in Asia following the Brexit voting defeat for UK's PM May
Yields on U.S. 10-year notes duly declined to a 10-week low at 2.596%.
COMMODITY
Dollar index fall supported gold at $1,301.91 per ounce.
Oil prices edged up on tightening global supply after a Saudi official said the kingdom plans to cut oil exports in April, while the U.S. government reduced its forecast for domestic crude output growth.
U.S. crude was last up 29 cents at $57.16 a barrel, while Brent crude futures had yet to trade at $66.67.
Malaysian palm oil futures dipped again on Tuesday, losing earlier gains made on rising crude oil prices.
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