Amidst a backdrop of sustained dollar weakness, the Dollar Index marked its second-largest decline of the year, dropping by approximately 0.50%. Despite a flurry of statements from seven Federal Reserve officials today, the overarching sentiment remains consistent: official confidence hasn't reached the threshold for an imminent rate cut. Nevertheless, ongoing position adjustments persist, resulting in softer dollar trading against G10 currencies, except for the Japanese yen and Swiss franc.
Concurrently, equity markets exhibit strength, with US index futures showing gains between 0.25% and 0.50%.
Gold surged to a new high near $2304 before experiencing a round of profit-taking, settling around $2290. Meanwhile, May WTI crude oil consolidates calmly above $85.

Asia Pacific markets
In the Asia Pacific region, Australia's service Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) displayed a noteworthy improvement, climbing to 54.4 in March from below 50 between October 2023 and January 2024. Similarly, the composite PMI, which languished below the 50 mark for four consecutive months until January, rebounded to 53.3 in March, reaching its highest level since April 2022. However, building approvals in Australia unexpectedly declined in February.

The Australian dollar saw a brief dip to $0.6570 yesterday but rebounded to around $0.6600 in European trading today.

European markets
Turning to European markets, the final March PMI for the Eurozone reaffirmed two key trends: manufacturing struggles persist while service sector activity gradually expands, with peripheral economies outperforming their core counterparts. Both the German and French composites remain below 50, at 47.7 and 48.3, respectively.

The euro experienced a gain of over 0.50% against the US dollar, marking its most significant increase this year, with the euro trading near $1.0865.
Sterling also saw a rally, climbing from around $1.2540 earlier in the week to $1.2670 today.

American markets
In American markets, anticipation builds for tomorrow's US employment report, overshadowing today's release of weekly jobless claims data.
Additionally, Canada reports its February merchandise trade balance, following a merchandise deficit of C$2.1 billion last year after a surplus of C$19.7 billion in 2022.
The disappointing ISM data helped prevent the market from testing the CAD1.3600 area, with the greenback now testing a two-week low near CAD1.3500.