The dollar dropped to its lowest in nearly seven weeks during the Asian session, while the euro rallied, as investors grew more optimistic about the pace of vaccine rollout in Europe and U.S. Treasury yields remained below their March spikes.
The dollar has fallen so far in April as U.S. bond yields retreated from the 14-month highs touched last month. The moves are a reverse of what happened in the first quarter of the year, when the dollar strengthened as U.S. Treasury yields rose, offering higher returns on the greenback.
At 0728 GMT, the dollar index was down 0.1% at 90.952, having hit a low of 90.877 during the Asian session .
The euro was up 0.3% at $1.2065 - its highest in nearly seven weeks - after having passed the key $1.20 in the previous session.
Versus the yen, the dollar broke the 108 level overnight, before reversing course, up 0.3% on the day at 108.450 .
The Australian dollar strengthened to a one-month high of 0.7812, helped by minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's April meeting which showed the central bank expects a faster rebound from the pandemic.
At 0729 GMT it was at 0.7808, up 0.7% on the day . The New Zealand dollar was up 0.6% at 0.7223 .
· Bitcoin was down 3.5%, trading at around $53,700
It sank as low as $51,541.16 on Sunday, after hitting a record high of $64,895.22 just days earlier.
· U.S. CDC expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to 16 and older
· U.S. administers 211.6 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC
· U.S. will boost ‘Do Not Travel’ advisories to 80% of world
The U.S. State Department said on Monday it will boost its “Do Not Travel” guidance to about 80% of countries worldwide, citing “unprecedented risk to travelers” from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The State Department already listed 34 out of about 200 countries as "Level 4: Do Not Travel," including places like Chad, Kosovo, Kenya, Brazil, Argentina, Haiti, Mozambique, Russia and Tanzania.
· Only 1% Of Vaccines Administered Were in Low Income Countries
New COVID-19 cases climbed again globally last week for the eighth week in a row – while only 1% of the 100 million vaccine doses administered last week were in low- and middle-income countries – said senior WHO officials on Monday, citing two key barometers of pandemic policies.
· UK shopper numbers jump 87.8% as England's stores reopen after lockdown
· UK unemployment falls again under government's jobs shield
Britain's unemployment rate unexpectedly fell for a second month in a row to 4.9% in the December-to-February period, most of which the country spent under a tight COVID-19 lockdown, official figures showed on Tuesday.
Most economists polled by Reuters had forecast that the unemployment rate - which has been held down by the government's huge jobs subsidies plan - would edge up to 5.1% from 5.0% in the three months to January.
· Germany’s biggest political power finally chooses who will lead it into crunch election
Up until then, neither the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), nor its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), had been able to agree on who should lead the conservatives into the election on Sep. 26. Merkel announced in 2018 that she would not run for a fifth term in office.
At a meeting of the CDU’s board Monday night, however, a majority of senior party members voted to nominate Armin Laschet, the leader of the CDU and state-premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, as the candidate for chancellor for this year’s election.
· French health minister says would favour regional easing of lockdowns
French health minister Olivier Veran would favour a region-by-region easing of lockdown measures set up to tackle the COVID-19 virus, he told regional paper Le Telegramme in an interview published on Tuesday.
Veran added that while there were signs that the latest surge in COVID-19 in France was starting to ease off a little, the virus was still circulating at a high level.
· UK warships to sail for Black Sea in May as Ukraine-Russia tensions rise- Sunday Times
· Czechs say Russian retaliation stronger than expected, seeks EU solidarity
· World Trade Organization chief says China central to WTO reforms
China is central to World Trade Organization (WTO) reforms, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on Tuesday.
Ngozi was speaking virtually to the Boao Forum for Asia, China’s answer to the Davos conference.
· Xi says China ‘will never seek hegemony’ no matter how strong it becomes
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday his country will not pursue hegemony regardless of how powerful it becomes.
“However strong it may grow, China will never seek hegemony, expansion or a sphere of influence, nor will China ever engage in an arms race,” Xi said at the opening ceremony of the annual Boao Forum for Asia in the Chinese province of Hainan.
· China’s Xi calls for fairer world order as rivalry with U.S. deepens
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for a rejection of hegemonic power structures in global governance, amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over a widening range of issues including alleged human rights abuses.
· China Needs Structural Reform for Economy, Ex-IMF Official Says
China faces huge structural problems in its economy as the government fell back to its old playbook of investment-driven growth last year, said Zhu Min, a former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
· EU seeks greater Taiwanese investment as chip shortage bites
· Covid-19 vaccines for all adults in India from May 1, says Centre
The Covid-19 vaccination drive will open for all persons above 18 years from May 1. The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
The Centre had launched a nationwide vaccination drive on January 16 for healthcare and frontline workers and expanded it to those above 45 on April 1
· Austria to funnel 651,000 COVID vaccine doses to Western Balkans from EU
Austria said on Tuesday it plans to funnel 651,000 doses of BioNTech and Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to six countries of the Western Balkans by August as part of a European Union scheme to provide assistance to neighbouring countries and Africa.
· New Zealand expects Australia 'travel bubble' to stay open despite new virus case
New Zealand authorities reported on Tuesday that a worker in Auckland airport has tested positive for COVID-19, but doubted whether the new case would warrant ordering a pause in quarantine-free travel with Australia.
Australia and New Zealand opened a travel bubble on Monday, after both countries had closed borders in March 2020 to non-citizens and permanent residents to contain the pandemic.
· Israel logs Indian COVID-19 variant, sees some vaccine efficacy against it
Israel has registered eight cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in India and believes that the Pfizer/BioNTech (PFE.N), (22UAy.DE) vaccine is at least partially effective against it, an Israeli health official said on Tuesday.
An initial seven cases of the Indian variant were detected in Israel last week among people arriving from abroad and who have since undergone preliminary testing, the Health Ministry said.
· Israel to buy millions of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses
· Philippines to start clinical trials on ivermectin, other drugs for COVID-19
The Philippines will begin clinical trial of several drugs, including the anti-parasite medication ivermectin, in patients with COVID-19 to determine their efficacy in combatting the coronavirus, a senior government official said.
· Philippine hospitals struggle to cope as more severe COVID-19 wave hits
· Philippines approves emergency use of J&J, Bharat BiotechCOVID-19 vaccines
· Thailand negotiating to buy 5-10 mln doses of Pfizer vaccine - PM
· Thailand says has enough hospital space amid new coronavirus wave
· Japanese journalists call for Myanmar junta to free detained colleague
· ASEAN calls summit on Myanmar crisis as EU imposes sanctions
Southeast Asian countries will discuss the crisis in Myanmar at a summit in Jakarta on Saturday, the ASEAN bloc's secretariat said on Tuesday, but Thailand's prime minister said several will be represented only by their foreign ministers.
· China's crude oil imports from Saudi up 8.8% y/y in March, UAE shipments jump
China's crude oil imports from top supplier Saudi Arabia rose 8.8% in March from a year earlier, driven by strong demand and as shipments delayed due to a port congestion finally arrived.
Imports from the United Arab Emirates also rose again, up 86%, as some Iranian barrels were believed to have slipped in.
Shipments from Saudi Arabia were 7.84 million tonnes, equivalent to 1.85 million barrels per day (bpd), data issued by China's General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday.
That was higher than 1.7 million bpd a year earlier, but below imports of 1.94 million bpd in February.
· Oil prices rise to over one-month highs on weak dollar
Oil prices rose to over one-month highs on Tuesday as a weaker U.S. dollar supported commodities and on expectations that crude inventories fell in the United States, the world's biggest oil user, though rising coronavirus cases in Asia capped gains.
Brent crude futures for June delivery had risen by 66 cents, or 1%, to $67.71 a barrel as at 0642 GMT after earlier hitting a session high of $67.97.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for May delivery, which expire on Tuesday, were up 70 cents, or 1.1%, at $64.08 barrel. The more-active June contract was at $64.02, up 0.9%, or 59 cents.
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