* This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. The rouble weakened to a near seven-week low against the yuan on Thursday and also edged lower versus the dollar, as markets reacted to Federal Reserve comments on interest rates and the Russian currency was squeezed by the end of a favourable tax payment period.
- Investors turned modestly bullish on currencies of South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand, supported by prospects of China's reopening, a Reuters poll found, while bearish positions on other Asian currencies hovered at multi-month lows amid a weaker greenback.
Copper prices on Thursday climbed to their strongest in two weeks, supported by a weaker dollar and signs that top metals consumer China was shifting away from its stringent COVID-19 curbs policy. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1% at $8,321.50 a tonne, as of 0700 GMT. On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most-traded January copper contract rose 1.7% to 65,890 yuan a tonne.
The pound has pulled off its biggest monthly increase against the U.S. dollar since July 2020 in November, although its rally was eclipsed by peers such as the yen and the Swiss franc. Sterling had jumped about 5% against the greenback in November, as of 2110 GMT Wednesday, with a slowdown in U.S. inflation providing some much-needed relief to the world's battered currencies.
Asian equities jumped on Thursday, while the dollar slid as investors poured into risky assets after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opened the door to a slowdown in the pace of monetary tightening. In an eagerly-awaited speech, Powell said the central bank could scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes "as soon as December," but cautioned the fight against inflation was far from over.
China's yuan hit a two-week high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, which came under pressure after the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said U.S. rate hikes could be scaled back "as soon as December".
Copper prices on Thursday climbed to their strongest in two weeks, supported by a weaker dollar and signs that top metals consumer China was shifting away from its stringent COVID-19 curbs policy. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose as much as 1.5% to $8,363 a tonne during Asian trading, its highest since Nov. 16, extending gains to a third session.
The dollar tumbled to a three-month low versus the yen on Thursday as traders focused on comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that interest rate hikes could be scaled back "as soon as December."
The Indian rupee is expected to open higher against the dollar on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments were viewed as dovish. The rupee is tipped at around 81.20 per U.S. dollar in early trades, compared with 81.4225 in the previous session.
Wall Street equities made little progress in Thursday's choppy session as investors digested economic data after a big rally in the previous session from U.S. Federal Reserve signals that it would slow its interest rate hiking pace.
News, commentary and research reports are from third-party sources unaffiliated with Fidelity. Fidelity does not endorse or adopt their content. Fidelity makes no guarantees that information supplied is accurate, complete, or timely, and does not provide any warranties regarding results obtained from their use.
PDF’s require Adobe® Reader® and will open in a new window.
Log In Required
Line of Credit Log In Required