Markets rise while the dollar stalls

On Thursday, Asian equities posted their largest monthly gains, while the dollar depreciated and bond markets stabilised as investors took a step back to evaluate the outlook for interest rates.

Following its worst decline in two and a half months due to concerns about demand and the fact that neither the US nor Israel has yet clearly responded to Iran's attack on Israel over the weekend, oil prices have stabilised.

Analysts do not anticipate significant fresh penalties on Irani oil, which accounts for 3% of world production.

Since the dollar has dropped from its recent highs, there is still room for intervention to halt any additional dollar gains in Asia. This is due to the rare trilateral agreement between the United States, Japan, and Korea to closely confer on foreign exchange.

The anticipation for short-term interest rates in the US remained mostly unchanged, but the selling of longer-dated bonds decreased, and on Thursday, bond markets in Asia saw a surge.

TSMC surprised investors by outpacing forecasts and reporting a 9% increase in earnings as it capitalises on demand driven by artificial intelligence. The outcome was in contrast to ASML, a provider of chips, which reported dismal profits on Wednesday. It anticipates that sales will improve in the second half.

Fear in the stock market has coincided with a surge of dollar buying and bond selling as consistently high U.S. rates are suggested by sticky inflation and a change in the Federal Reserve's rhetoric. This week, the rate-sensitive Nasdaq has lost 3% so far.

The three-month highs for European petrol prices have been surpassed in the commodities markets, and the steep increases in metal prices have slowed but not reversed.

At $2,376 an ounce, gold is just below the record high set last week.

Later on Thursday, a few central bankers from the US and Europe will speak. Data on U.S. unemployment claims is coming, and investors will be keenly observing Blackstone and Netflix's results.

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)