MTS Help Center

· Dollar bounce loses steam; AstraZeneca worries dent sterling

The dollar advanced slightly on Friday but was headed for its softest week of the year as strong data in Europe, surprisingly weak U.S. jobs figures and a determinedly accommodative Federal Reserve have prompted investors to trim bets on the greenback.

The euro and yen are also poised for their largest weekly percentage gains in four and five months, respectively, while the dollar index, which has fallen 0.9% this week, is parked near a two-week low at 92.171.

In the Asia session, the euro eased 0.1% but held above its 200-day moving average at $1.1900, while the yen pushed through its 20-day moving average to hold at 109.32 per dollar. Both currencies have gained 1.3% against the dollar so far this week.

The euro has also risen more than 2% against the pound this week, bouncing from a one-year low of 84.70 pence on Monday to touch 86.81 pence, its highest since February, amid growing concerns about Britain’s reliance on AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Sterling was an outlier against the dollar this week and has so far fallen 0.7% to sit at $1.3723.

· Treasury yields climb ahead of producer prices data

U.S. Treasury yields climbed on Friday morning, ahead of the release of the March producer price index, which measures wholesale price inflation.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.666% at 3:30 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond advanced to 2.343%. Yields move inversely to prices.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is set publish the March PPI data at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. It measures the changes in underlying U.S. producer prices.

· Biden’s Orphaned AstraZeneca Stockpile Rises to 20 Million Doses

The U.S. stockpile of the controversial AstraZeneca Plc coronavirus vaccine has grown to more than 20 million doses, according to people familiar with the matter, even as the shot looks increasingly unlikely to factor into President Joe Biden’s domestic vaccination campaign.

AstraZeneca has yet to request Food and Drug Administration authorization for the two-dose vaccine, and the company faces safety questions abroad and scrutiny from U.S. regulators who’ve already rebuked it for missteps during clinical trials and partial data releases.

· ECB's Schnabel warns against blocking the EU's recovery fund

European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel has warned against attempts to block the European Union’s Recovery Fund, saying such a step would be an “economic disaster for Europe”.

· France to recommend mRNA COVID-19 shots as second dose for some after AstraZeneca - minister

France’s top health body should say on Friday that recipients of a first dose of AstraZeneca’s traditional COVID-19 vaccine who are under 55 should get a second shot with a new-style messenger-RNA vaccine, Health Minister Olivier Veran said.

· German exports rise in February, lifted by China trade

German exports rose in February, boosted by surging trade with China in a fresh sign that factories are busy in Europe’s largest economy despite an expected pandemic-related drop in overall output in the first quarter.

Seasonally adjusted exports increased by 0.9% on the month after an upwardly revised rise of 1.6% in January, the Federal Statistics Office said on Friday. Imports rose 3.6% after falling 3.5% in the prior month.

· German exports rise in February, lifted by China trade

German exports rose in February, boosted by surging trade with China in a fresh sign that factories are busy in Europe’s largest economy despite an expected pandemic-related drop in overall output in the first quarter.

Seasonally adjusted exports increased by 0.9% on the month after an upwardly revised rise of 1.6% in January, the Federal Statistics Office said on Friday. Imports rose 3.6% after falling 3.5% in the prior month.

A Reuters poll had pointed to a 1.0% increase in exports and a 2.4% rise in imports. The trade surplus shrank to 19.1 billion euros. On the year, exports to China increased by 25.7%.

· Hungary delays school reopening after teachers, students protest

Hungary will push back the reopening of secondary schools by three weeks to May 10, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday, after teachers and students called for a delay for pandemic-related reasons.

· China factory gate prices rise by most in nearly 3 years as economic recovery quickens

China’s producer price index (PPI) rose 4.4% in annual terms, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement, far above a 3.5% rise forecast in a Reuters poll and up sharply from a 1.7% increase in February.

· China's March new yuan loans seen rebounding, but tightening fears grow: Reuters poll

New bank loans in China are expected to have rebounded in March from a sharp drop in February, a Reuters poll showed, as the central bank walks a tightrope between supporting the recovering economy and containing debt risks.

Chinese banks are estimated to have issued 2.45 trillion yuan ($373.96 billion) in net new yuan loans last month, up from 1.36 trillion yuan in February, according to the median estimate in the survey of 25 economists.

But that would be a 14% fall from the 2.85 trillion yuan issued the same month a year earlier, when tough measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed much of the economy.

After record growth in credit in January, new lending dropped sharply in February. Still, if the March reading meets forecasts, total lending in the first quarter would reach a record high of 7.39 trillion yuan.

· China's auto sales surge 75% in March, 12th straight monthly gain

Auto sales in China surged in March for their 12th consecutive month of gains, as the world’s biggest car market leads the sector’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sales reached 2.53 million vehicles in March, up 74.9% year-on-year, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.

· China announces new financial policies in southern province of Hainan

China’s financial regulators announced a slew of measures on Friday to further open up financial services in the southern province of Hainan, including enhancing yuan convertibility and allowing market access to foreign investors.

Regulators will also support the establishment of joint-venture banks in Hainan and allow companies in the province to issue yuan-denominated products overseas, including bonds, according to the statement.

· China will take necessary measures to uphold rights of Chinese companies

China said on Friday it would take necessary measures to uphold the rights and interests of Chinese companies, after the United States added Chinese supercomputing entities to an economic blacklist.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian was speaking at a regular news briefing.

The U.S. Commerce Department said on Thursday it was adding seven Chinese supercomputing entities to a U.S. economic blacklist for assisting Chinese military efforts.

· China's auto sales surge 75% in March, 12th straight monthly gain

· Japan's February core machinery orders seen rebounding: Reuters poll

Japan’s core machinery orders are expected to have recovered in February from the previous month’s drop, a Reuters poll of economists showed, as firms shored up capital spending despite the lingering impact on business of the coronavirus crisis.

· G20 currency language ensures countries won't resort to currency intervention: Aso

A recent clarification to the Group of 20 major economies’ stance on currency rates ensures that countries won’t resort to currency intervention for competitiveness and there was no change to its stance despite the tweaks to its foreign exchange language, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said.

Aso was speaking to reporters on Friday after a cabinet meeting.

· South Korea orders closure of nightclubs, karaoke bars amid concern over fourth COVID-19 wave

· South Korea unveils prototype of KF-X fighter jet

South Korea on Friday unveiled the first prototype of the KF-X fighter jet it is developing with Indonesia, amid lingering uncertainty over the future of Jakarta’s role in the project.

· South Korea's Hyundai Motor to suspend Asan plant output over chip shortage

· Iran frees South Korean ship, captain after promise to help with frozen funds

· Australia to buy extra 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccine

· Australia doubles Pfizer vaccine order as Astra clotting worries upend rollout

Australia has doubled its order of the Pfizer Inc COVID-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as the country raced to overhaul its inoculation plan over concerns about the risks of blood clots with the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine.

Australia has now joined a host of countries in restricting use of the vaccine due to clotting concerns. Local health authorities have changed their recommendation to say the country’s nearly 12 million people aged under 50 should take the Pfizer product instead.

As a result Australia has doubled an earlier Pfizer order to 40 million shots, enough for four-fifths of the population, which would be delivered by the end of the year, Morrison said.

· India reports a record 131,968 new COVID-19 infections

· India to review COVID-19 vaccines after blood clot warning - report

· A dozen Bangkok hospitals suspend COVID-19 testing amid shortages

At least 12 hospitals in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, said as of Friday they were suspending testing for COVID-19 due to high demand and shortage of supplies, amid a new spike in cases.

· Oil prices edge down as investors weigh rising supplies, demand outlook

Oil prices edged down on Friday as investors weighed rising supplies from major producers and the impact on fuel demand from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brent crude futures for June edged down 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $63.08 a barrel by 0731 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May was at $59.59 a barrel, down 1 cent.

Both contracts are on track to post a 2%-3% drop this week after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+ that includes Russia, agreed to gradually increase supplies by 2 million barrels per day between May and July.

Analysts expect global oil inventories to continue to fall, however, as fuel demand accelerates in the second half of this year as the global economic recovery gathers steam.

Physical markets will still need to pick up, though, before prices and intermonth spreads can rally, he added.

Concerns are surfacing that renewed lockdowns in parts of the world to curb rising COVID-19 cases and problems with vaccinations could alter the oil demand picture.

Reference: CNBC, Reuters