Market News

U.S. stocks climbed to record levels Thursday for the first time in 17 years, boosted by a rally in oil prices as well as upbeat economic data.

New Zealand's central bank cut the official interest rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 2.00% and indicated further reductions are likely.

The US Dollar was under broad pressure which helped to push the Australian Dollar near to a 3-month peak as FX traders reassess the prospects of a Federal Reserve Bank rate increase in 2016.

The U.S. currency slid against all major peers on speculation the Federal Reserve will be slow to raise interest rates amid uneven global growth, buoying gold and bonds.

The Pound Sterling, which had been under pressure prior to the latest policy decision from the Bank of England, continued its slide, falling to a 1-month trough versus the US Dollar.

The pound slipped in Asia on Tuesday on speculation of further UK policy easing, shedding 0.4 percent to $1.2981GBP after Bank of England policymaker Ian McCafferty said that more quantitative easing was likely to be required if the UK's economic decline worsens.

The US Dollar continued to have positive momentum after Friday’s labor data helped improve sentiment for the greenback.

Asian stocks hit one-year highs on Monday as investors seek greater yields amidst a backdrop of a recovering U.S. economy and easing global monetary policy conditions.

There will be a much lighter news schedule this week compared to last week, which includes central bank input from New Zealand only, as well as a key U.S. data tranche. There are also going to be a couple of important numbers to watch from China.

July’s non-farm payroll numbers were announced on Friday and were better than expected. U.S. employers hired at a steady pace during the month indicating some underlying strength for the labor market despite a host of mixed economic signals.

The Bank of England just announced an interest rate cut. This is the first rate cut in seven years. Mark Carney, the Bank governor, announced the reduction from 0.5% to 0.25% at noon on Thursday.

The Pound Sterling was trading close to a 3-week peak versus the US Dollar, and edged higher versus the common currency euro

Asian stocks rebounded from their worst day since the aftermath of the Brexit vote. European equities also gained but the pound continued to retreat with the Bank of England expected to cut interest rates at today’s monetary policy meeting.

The US Dollar Index edged higher in Wednesday trading but remained near to the recently struck 6-week trough.

HSBC Holdings Plc reported Wednesday that its pretax profit had fallen 45 percent to $3.61 billion from a year earlier.