Chinese equities bucked the broader trend for weaker stocks in Asia, with the CSI 300 finishing up 2.27%. In contrast, the Nikkei fell by 0.83%. Chinese markets were helped by liquidity injections from the PBoC, as investors speculated it could mean supportive monetary policy going forward.
The market took the postponement of the US-China trade talks over the weekend (as well as the extension of the deadline for TikTok to sell its US assets) quite positively.
Gold remains bubbly on the "Buffet Bandwagon bounce after running into sticky bids in Asia; investors continue to look at gold as key a diversifier against future dollar weakness even more so with positions much cleaner. And gold received a bit of a bounce in Asia as the US dollar was generally trading softer today. However, there is no real trend in the dollar these days. So the yellow metal will need to consolidate gains above $1950 to attract more endearing demand.
As for the US dollar, it's trading as expected between 1.18-1.19 ahead of the FOMC minutes, which is expected to be the event risk of the week. A clear break is needed for the momentum to extend. The level is pretty much in-line with the previous highs in EUR/USD coming in at 1.1910/20.
Frankly, it was more of a surprise the EURUSD traded higher in Asia given the pick-up in COVID-19 cases in Europe raising questions about the pace of recovery from the record GDP drop in Q2.