Gold and silver start the EU session higher
Gold and silver have both recovered after some strength in the US session yesterday. Overnight gold is trading just above flat while silver has moved 0.57% in the black. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper is 0.10% higher and spot WTI has moved up 0.92%.
In the Asia Pac area, the ASX (0.66%) and Shanghai Composite (0.42%) closed higher but the Nikkei 225 bucked the trend to closed -0.44% in the red. This came after another record close for the S&P 500.
In FX markets, the dollar index trades 0.14% lower with the biggest beneficiary being NZD as NZD/USD moved 0.70% higher. The next biggest mover was AUD/USD which trades just up over half a percent. Bitcoin continues to trade well and is currently at $64,482.22.
In terms of news, BOJ's Kuroda stuck to his usual stance and said the bank will persistently continue with powerful easing towards 2% inflation target.
Sticking with central bankers, ECB's Villeroy says the ECB could possibly look to end PEPP purchases in March next year.
The RBNZ kept rates and their funding for lending scheme unchanged overnight. They also said they are willing to cut the OCR if required.
French minister says EMA likely to issue new guidance on J&J vaccine today. This comes after the US halted the use due to some blood clotting cases.
Goldman Sachs have reiterated their stance on iron ore and say they have a negative outlook for the iron ore price 6-12 months out.
China's Li said China and the US should step up communication, manage differences, respect each other.
On the data front, Australian Westpac Consumer Confidence Index for April came in at +6.2% m/m (prior +2.6%) and Japanese Core Machinery Orders for February fell to -8.5% m/m (vs. expected 2.5%).
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include the IEA monthly report, EU industrial production and weekly DoE's. There are lots of central bank speakers including Fed Chair Powell, Fed's Clarida, Bostic, Kaplan, Williams, ECB's Lagarde, Schnabel, Panetta, de Guindos and BoE's Haskel.
By Rajan Dhall
For Kitco News
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