The U.S. Dollar (CURRENCY:USD) struggled hard to rebound against major currencies this morning. During the late Asian trade, USD/JPY ticked down by 0.08% to 111.62 while the Sterling rallied against the greenback by 0.08% to 1.4235.
Dollar slips further
The impact of a disappointing labor market report released last week stretched further to the first day of this new week. The jobs report has trimmed down bullish bets on the frequency of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen’s outlook remain resilient even as the data suggested that the long-term outlook for inflation among Japanese companies has weakened since March.
Click Here For More Market Exclusive Updates & Analysis
Across global markets, Asian indices closed mix with Nikkei 225 cutting its gains. The bull run in Yen led to weakness in Japanese equities. while the labor market report failed to spark equity buying interest in Asian markets. The Hang Seng registered most of the losses as it was down by 1.34% to 20,498 while India’s Mumbai Sensex gained the most, posting a 0.50% gain to 25,395.66.
At the same time, European markets began the week sharply higher, led by robust gains in Germany’s DAX, which was up by 0.70% to 9,863.23. Recovery in oil prices is seen as the key propeller for European markets today.
Oil adds marginal gains
Oil ETFs including the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return (NYSEARCA:OIL) prices gained some strength after Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. chief, Sultan Al Jaber projected that balance in oil markets is likely to come by the end of 2017. Following that statement, Brent Crude travelled north into green territory, posting a gain of 0.05% to $38.69. West Texas Intermediate remained in the red, losing 0.33% to $36.67. Al Jaber’s comments come ahead of the most-awaited meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC countries, which will take place in Doha on April 17.
