Gold prices bounce off 3-week lows; demand likely longer term
By Swati Pandey
SYDNEY, June 23 (Reuters) - Asian shares see-sawed in a wild
ride on Tuesday following confusing statements from the White
House over the U.S.-China trade deal, with President Donald
Trump later clarifying the pact was "fully intact."
Trump's tweet bolstered market sentiment, helping e-minis
for the S&P 500 Esc1 swing back to positive territory. Asian
shares were quick to turn around too, with MSCI's broadest index
of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 0.7%.
Risk sentiment had taken a knock early in the Asian day
after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the trade
deal with China was "over", linking the breakdown in part to
Washington's anger over Beijing not sounding the alarm earlier
about the coronavirus outbreak. The comment caused a kneejerk selloff in equities markets,
although sentiment turned around quickly after a statement from
Navarro that his comment had been taken out of context.
"With the White House, you can never be sure whether they
are voicing their own position or the official position," said
Moh Siong Sim, Singapore based forex analyst at the Bank Of
Singapore.
"If he's speaking about his own position, it's pretty much
consistent with Navarro. We know he is a hardliner ... (but)
ultimately it's Trump who decides whether the trade deal is on
or off."
Trump soothed nerves when he tweeted: "China trade deal is
fully intact. Hopefully they will continue to live up to the
terms of the agreement."
In response, China's blue-chip index .CSI300 regained its
losses to be last up 0.3% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI
climbed 0.7%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO rose 0.1% while Japan's
Nikkei .N225 added 0.8%.
Asian stocks have rallied hard since hitting a low in March
amid worries about the jolt to the global economy from the
coronavirus-driven shutdowns.
The gains have been driven by hefty central bank stimulus
around the globe and gradual easing of restrictions, although
worries about a second wave kept investors jittery.
Beijing on Monday reported its second straight day of record
COVID-19 infections, while new cases and hospitalisations in
record numbers swept through more U.S. states.
New infections spiked in Latin America, Brazil in
particular, while New York City, the epicenter of the U.S.
outbreak, eased restrictions after 100 days of lockdown.
On Wall Street overnight, the Dow .DJI rose 0.59%, the S&P
500 .SPX gained 0.65% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC added
1.11% to set a record closing high.
In currencies, the safe haven yen slipped against the dollar
to 107.17 JPY= , while the euro was a shade higher at $1.1265
EUR= .
The risk sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3 was up 0.3% at
$0.6925. Its kiwi counterpart NZD=D3 was flat at $0.6478
having pared its losses.
In commodities, U.S. crude CLc1 fell 0.3%, or 12 cents, to
$40.61 a barrel, while Brent LCOc1 was flat at $43.08.
As investors piled on equities, spot gold XAU= was off
0.2% at $1,750.5 an ounce.
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