Asian Markets Mostly Lower On China Inflation Data
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Friday, despite the positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as data emerging from China showed higher than expected inflation. The markets are also cautious amid the continuing surge in coronavirus cases in the region and the possible restrictions on economic activity in several markets. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.
However, the prospects of a global economic recovery following the U.S. Federal Reserve s repeated assurances that monetary policy will likely remain unchanged for the foreseeable future is limiting the downside. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell also said at Thursday s IMF Spring Meeting that the US economy is headed toward a strong recovery, aided by quickening vaccinations.
Australian, NZ Dollars Fall On China Policy Tightening Concerns
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian and NZ dollars slipped against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday, as strong China inflation data triggered concerns about tightening of monetary policy.
Official data showed that China s consumer prices rose 0.4 percent on year in March, beating expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent following the 0.2 percent contraction in the previous month.
Producer prices jumped 4.4 percent on year in March, up from the 1.7 percent rise in February. Economists had forecast an increase of 3.5 percent.
Investors reacted to the continued surge in coronavirus cases in the region and the possible restrictions on economic activity.
Canadian Dollar Rallies After Robust Canada Jobs Data
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Canadian dollar spiked higher against its major counterparts in the New York session on Friday, as Canada job growth beat forecasts in March and the jobless rate fell the most since February 2020.
Data from Statistics Canada showed that Canadian economy added much more jobs than expected in the month of March.
Employment increased by 303,100 jobs in March, after a rise of 259,200 jobs in the previous month.
Economists had expected employment to increase by about 101,500 jobs.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent in March from 8.2 percent in February. The unemployment rate was expected to fall to 8.0 percent. It also marked the lowest level since February 2020.
The Australian market finished session mixed on Friday, 09 April 2021, as positive lead from Wall Street overnight was offset by cautious over the delay in vaccine rollouts. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 3.60 points, or 0.05%, to 6,995.17. The broader All Ordinaries added 1.94 points, or 0.03%, to 7,252.25.
Healthcare stocks tumbled with sector giant CSL, which has the contract to make 50 million doses of AstraZeneca s vaccine domestically, dropping as much as 1.4% after Australia on Thursday made a policy shift to recommend the use of Pfizer s Covid-19 vaccine for people over 50 amid concerns about links to risks of blood clots with AstraZeneca s shot.
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A fresh one-month high in gold prices underpinned the aussie.
Australia will publish the March AIG Performance of Services Index.
AUD/USD recovered from the 0.7600 level, but the bullish potential is still limited.
The AUD/USD pair recovered after bottoming around the 0.7600 figure on Wednesday, ending the day around 0.7650. Absent demand for the American currency and higher metal prices backed the aussie. Gold prices jumped to their highest since March 1. Spot gold traded as high as $ 1,758.61 a troy ounce, ending the day a couple of bucks below the level. As per stocks, European and American indexes posted modest advances but remained within familiar levels, falling to boost demand for commodity-linked currencies.