The Straits Times
PublishedApr 5, 2021, 5:00 am SGT
https://str.sg/JC8G
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SINGAPORE - The first quarter has been one of the best in recent memory for the Singapore equity market.
The dollar moved narrowly around ¥110.70 in Tokyo trading Thursday amid a dearth of fresh trading incentives.
At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.68, slightly down from ¥110.72 at the same time on Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1740, up from $1.1731, and at ¥129.95, up from ¥129.89.
The dollar firmed to around ¥110.80 in the morning on buying by importers for settlement purposes, before falling back on profit-securing and position-squaring selling amid a slide in U.S. interest rates in off-hours trading.
The greenback moved in a narrow range in the afternoon as market players took to the sidelines ahead of the release of key U.S. economic indicators, such as the Institute of Supply Management purchasing managers’ index for March, due out later Thursday, and employment data for the same month Friday.
EUR/USD sell-off eases after strong EU manufacturing PMI figures
The Eurozone manufacturing PMI rose to 66.6, a record high.
Germany, the biggest European economy, led the recovery.
The EUR/USD price rose slightly on Thursday after the relatively strong European manufacturing data. It rose to an intraday high of 1.1755, which is slightly above the year-to-date low of 1.1705.
EUR/USD price action
European manufacturing rebounds
The European manufacturing sector rebounded even as the region struggled with the new wave of the virus. According to Markit, the overall manufacturing PMI for the Eurozone rose from 57.9 to 62.5 in March. Analysts, based on last week’s flash PMI reading were expecting the data to come in at 58. This was the highest figure in almost 24 years.
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Last modified on Thu 1 Apr 2021 17.50 EDT
Factories across the world reported surging orders in March as the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines accelerated and the $2tn of public investment announced by the Biden administration lifted confidence in a sustained global recovery.
The likelihood of interest rates remaining at historic lows, and the prospect of consumers unlocking some of the savings from last year in a rapid spending spree also underpinned the strength of the recovery from the shock of the pandemic and sent shares on US and German stock markets to record highs.
The S&P 500 index rallied above the 4,000 level for the first time – led by tech stocks – as investors embraced the US growth outlook, while the Stoxx 600 index of European companies closed 0.67% higher at over 432 points as it continues to close in on its pre-pandemic high set in February 2020.