28 February 2017

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Currency Markets the dollar drifted on Tuesday, with its earlier advance halted by investors taking a wait-and-see approach ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's closely-watched Congressional address later in the day. The greenback was little changed at 112.660 yen  after rising 0.7 percent overnight, when it had earlier plumbed an 18-day low of 111.920. The euro was flat at $1.0586, having come off from a one-week high of $1.0631 scaled the previous day. The Australian dollar edged up 0.1 percent to $0.7682. The pound fetched $1.2430 after sliding to a 12-day low of $1.2384 the previous day. The dollar index was little changed at 101.150 after posting a modest gain the previous day, when it initially went as low as 100.690.

  Commodities Markets U.S. crude oil edged higher for a second day on Tuesday, underpinned by high compliance with OPEC's production cuts even as the market remains anchored by rising U.S. production. The OPEC has so far surprised the market by showing record compliance with oil-output curbs, and could improve in coming months as the biggest laggards - the United Arab Emirates and Iraq - pledge to catch up quickly with their targets. West Texas Intermediate crude oil added 0.2 percent, to $54.16 a barrel, while benchmark Brent crude oil added 0.3 percent, to $56.10 a barrel.  Spot gold was little changed at $1,252.90 per ounce and spot silver rose 0.4 percent to $18.31 an ounce. 

 US Equity Markets  stocks ended slightly higher on Monday as President Donald Trump said he would talk about his plans for infrastructure spending in an address to Congress Tuesday. The S&P 500 gained 0.10 percent, to 2,369.73. and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.28 percent, to 5,861.90. Shares of U.S. defense companies - Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin - rose after Trump said he would seek to boost Pentagon spending by $54 billion in his first budget proposal. Boeing was up 1.1 percent. Time Warner ended up 0.9 percent after news that the head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission does not expect to review AT&T Inc's planned $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner. AT&T fell 1.3 percent.

Bond Markets Japanese government bond prices edged down on Tuesday following an overnight retreat by U.S. Treasuries, although the short-end of the curve held firm helped by a well-received two-year debt auction. The benchmark 10-year JGB yield rose half a basis point to 0.050 percent. The two-year yield was half a basis point lower at minus 0.275 percent. The yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries stood at 2.370 percent in Asian trade, compared to their U.S. close of 2.367 percent on Monday.

Asian Equity Markets stocks edged up on Tuesday, on track for a winning month and bolstered by gains on Wall Street as investors awaited a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump for signals on tax reform and infrastructure spending. The Nikkei rose 0.7 percent to 19,235.10 in midmorning trade after falling to 2-1/2 week lows on Monday. The broader Topix gained 0.9 percent to 1,547.03 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 advanced 0.8 percent to 13,850.75.  MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan was up 0.2 percent, up 3.6 percent this month nearly 10 percent for the year so far. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.4 percent as financial stocks gained, while China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3 percent