Forex
The dollar held gains after upbeat ISM non-manufacturing sector report.
USDJPY was steady at 111.83 after going as high as 112.135 overnight, its strongest since Dec. 20.
EURUSD was little changed at $1.13002 following a decline of 0.3% the previous day, when it plumbed a two-week trough of $1.1289.
The Bank of Japan announced an increase in the amount of purchases of the Japanese Government bonds that have 5 to 10 years remaining until maturity from JPY 430 billion to JPY 480 billion.
The People's Bank of China set the yuan reference rate at 6.7053 vs the previous day's fix of 6.6998.
AUD/NZD is testing the downside within the broader consolidation area, not expected to break out at this stage one way or the other.
Economy
On Wednesday, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was barely changed. Asian Indices moving in tight ranges, as investors awaited fresh directional cues from U.S.-China trade negotiations and a weaker Wall Street finish capped broader gains, while robust U.S. economic data supported the dollar.
On Tuesday, Wall Street slip as a drop in General Electric shares countered positive retailer earnings and investors eyed a key resistance level for the benchmark S&P 500 after the market’s run to a five-month peak on Monday.
A report from the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. non-manufacturing sector companies in February placing the most new orders since August 2005, an indicator of robust health.
The unemployment rate in India rose to 7.2 percent in February 2019, the highest since September 2016, and up from 5.9 percent in February 2018, according to data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) that was released on Tuesday.
Pakistan said on Tuesday it had begun a crackdown on Islamist militant groups, detaining 44 members of banned organizations including close relatives of the leader of a group blamed for a deadly bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month.
North Korea has restored part of a missile launch site it began to dismantle after pledging to do so in a first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last year, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency and two U.S. think tanks reported on Tuesday.
Commodity
U.S. crude oil futures were down 0.7% at $56.16 per barrel after data from the American Petroleum Institute , an industry group, showed a larger-than-expected increase in U.S. crude stockpiles.
Gold held steady on Wednesday after recovering from more than five-week lows in the previous session, drawing support from choppy equities, while a stronger dollar capped gains.
Malaysia will present legal and technical arguments this week against an EU plan to limit the use of palm oil, the head of the country's marketing agency said on Tuesday, opposing a move that could lead to an eventual ban on the edible oil.
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