Gold sets a new record high
Gold set a new all-time high on Monday, partly supported by elevated tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine.
US indices
The session was mixed overnight in the Asia–Pacific (APAC) region, following the lead of US indices on Monday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng recorded the best performance.
The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI
A few important statistics were published on Monday. In Japan, the Tankan large manufacturers index fell for the first time in a year to 11 in the first quarter of 2024 from 13 in Q4 2023. In China, the Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.1 in March. It was the fifth straight month of growth in factory activity. And after 16 months of contraction, the US ISM manufacturing PMI increased to 50.3 in March, up from 47.8 in February and beating market expectations of 48.4. Sending the US dollar higher.
JOLTs job openings
The greenback will be tested throughout the week by a series of job-related data in the US. Starting on Tuesday with job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTs) job openings. Expectations are for 8.84 million job openings, which would be a fifth straight week below the 9 million bar. The ADP employment change will be published on Wednesday at 1.15 p.m. It will be followed by initial jobless claims on Thursday and non-farm payrolls on Friday.
The Reserve Bank of Australia
A couple of weeks ago, the Reserve Bank of Australia decided it was appropriate to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.35%. But for the first time in many months, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) did not consider raising interest rates at its March meeting, confirming the market's opinion that the tightening cycle is over.
US crude oil
Elsewhere on the commodity market, US crude oil rose above $84 on Monday for the first time since the end of October last year, supported by higher-than-expectedPurchasing Manager's Index (PMI) data in China and the US. Gold set a new all-time high on Monday, partly supported by elevated tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine.
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