published Aug 22, 2018, 9:13:54 PM, by Adam Haigh and Andreea Papuc
(Bloomberg) —

The dollar rallied for the first day in six as investors awaited a meeting of global central bankers after the Federal Reserve signaled no change to its pace of monetary policy tightening. Asian stocks traded mixed.

The greenback climbed against all its Group of 10 trading partners. The Australian dollar fell most against its U.S. counterpart and bond yields slipped as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lost key support in a blow to his leadership. The 10-year Treasury yield held declines as the Fed indicated in meeting minutes a readiness to hike again if the economy stays on track. Australia’s stocks benchmark was down modestly, with banks among the worst performers, and Japan was little changed. Shares fell in Hong Kong and ticked higher in China.

While U.S. stocks remain close to all-time highs amid double-digit corporate profit growth, traders are keeping an eye on the legal drama engulfing President Donald Trump as well as the resumption of trade negotiations between the U.S. and China. Investors are also focused on comments from Fed chairman Jerome Powell later this week when he speaks at a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Elsewhere, oil steadied after surging on a U.S. government report that showed the biggest decline in crude inventories since late July.

Terminal users can read more in our Bloomberg Markets Live blog here.

Here are some key events coming up this week:

Companies announcing earnings include Alibaba and China’s Bank of Communications. Central bankers gather at the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole symposium, where Powell speaks Friday. Euro area preliminary PMI data for August is due on Thursday.
These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

Japan’s Topix index was little changed as of 11:07 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.2 percent with trading volumes about 85 percent above the 30-day average amid the unfolding political drama. South Korea’s Kospi index swung fell 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.5 percent. Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3 percent. S&P 500 Index futures were little changed. The index fell less than 0.1 percent Wednesday.

Currencies

The yen fell 0.2 percent to 110.79 per dollar. The offshore yuan lost 0.3 percent to 6.8656 per dollar. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3 percent. The euro declined 0.3 percent to $1.1563. The Aussie plunged 0.7 percent to 72.94 U.S. cents.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries held ticked lower to 2.81 percent. Australia’s 10-year bond yield fell two basis points to 2.52 percent.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude was steady at $67.88 a barrel after jumping 3.1 percent. Gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,192.61 an ounce.

To contact the reporters on this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net ;Andreea Papuc in Sydney at apapuc1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net Cormac Mullen
COPYRIGHT
© 2018 Bloomberg L.P