Market News

Asian markets retreated on Thursday morning, following Wall Street’s biggest decline of the year on Wednesday as investigations continue into U.S. President Donald Trump and his alleged transfer of classified information to Russia.

The Japanese Yen and the Swiss Franc both hit multi-week peaks versus the US Dollar as the scrutiny into the Donald Trump White House escalates.

Asian markets were broadly lower on Wednesday morning as the yen bounced back on political concerns regarding U.S. President Donald Trump.

The common currency Euro edged higher against the Dollar and hit level not seen since early November, when the US first elected Donald Trump as president.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 share average hit a 1-month high no Tuesday as a continually weakening yen bolstered the export sector and traders enjoyed optimism from Wall Street’s continued bull run.

The Canadian Dollar hit two-week highs on Monday and the Australian dollar saw 10-day highs after a bounce in oil prices lead to a rise in commodity-linked currencies.

Oil prices gained more than 1.5 percent during Monday’s Asian trading session after Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to extend their crude production cuts from the original near-term end date to March 2018.

There are fewer high-impact news items scheduled this week, compared to last week.

The New Zealand Dollar fell near to a 1-year trough against the US Dollar as concerns over the New Zealand economy trumped the recent bounce in the price of oil.

Oil prices enjoyed 3 percent gains overnight and extended their rally into Thursday, enjoying their biggest day of gains since December 1, 2016.

The US Dollar is currently under some pressure but earlier in the session it had held steady and near to an 8-week peak versus the Japanese Yen, the rise coming only after risk appetite recovered.

All eyes are on U.S. President Donald Trump who garnered international attention on Tuesday for the firing of FBI Director James Comey who has been openly leading an investigation into whether the Trump camp conspired with Russia to influence presidential campaign results last year.

The Pound Sterling held steady and traded close to a recently struck 7-month peak versus the US Dollar as investors await Thursday’s release of the inflation report by the Bank of England.

The win for Macron in the French Presidential election failed to provide any support for the Pound Sterling which held below the $1.30 level.

The euro hit a six-month high of $1.1024 against the U.S. dollar before retreating slightly, on the heels of centrist Emmanuel Macron’s resounding electoral victory.