Friday Morning Briefing: Gold Falls, Dollar At 10-Year High
Your Friday morning briefing: Asia gains, gold drops, dollar near 10-year high
Asian markets opened on a positive note and are set for their first weekly gain in a month, as the prospect of higher interest rates in the U.S. boosted the dollar.
Gold halted its losses near a nine-month low while oil prices remained steady. U.S. equity markets were shut on Thursday, and will have a truncated trading session today, on account of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Fed Hikes In December, June?
The odds of the U.S. Federal Reserve hiking rates in December remained at 100 percent, while the prospects of further tightening in June 2017 rose to more than 60 percent, according to futures rates tracked by Bloomberg.
EM Currencies Continue To Slide
Emerging market currencies have been the worst hit by Donald Trump’s election victory, and the prospects of rate hikes in the U.S. The Indian rupee fell to its record low on Thursday while the dollar continued to surge against all its major peers.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2 percent to climb to its strongest level against the yen since March. The yen weakened for the fourth day in a row, shedding a further 0.3 percent. The Japanese currency has now lost 2.5 percent this week against the greenback, following a 4 percent drop last week.
Gold, Silver Lack Lustre
Gold dropped to its lowest level since February as the dollar extended its gain. The precious metal is now headed for its third straight weekly loss. Assets under gold ETFs have fallen to their lowest level since June, according to data from Bloomberg.
Silver entered bear market territory after it fell 20 percent from its August 2 high.
Oil remained little changed around the $48 per barrel mark, as investors await the outcome of the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) members meeting in Vienna on November 30.
Friday Rebound?
The SGX Nifty Index rose 0.52 percent to 8,017 as of 7:00 a.m. indicating a positive start for Indian equities. The NSE Nifty 50 Index dropped 0.84 percent on Thursday, capping a dismal November futures and options series where it lost close to 7.5 percent.
