Dollar Slips along with Treasury Yields on Weaker Wage Growth

USD

The dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies weakened following the US March jobs report and President Trump's comments on interest rates. DXY retreated from a high of 97.47 to trade at 97.23 during the Asian session, and US 10-year treasury yields drifted lower towards 2.482%. The US economy created 196 thousand jobs in March, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.8% as the participation rate dropped to 63.0% from 63.2% prior. Moreover, the average hourly earnings MoM rose only by 0.1% versus an expectation of 0.2% and Average hourly earnings YoY came in at 3.2% versus an expectation of 3.4%. On the other hand, President Donald Trump blamed the ongoing slowdown in the US economy to the Fed's interest rates, and he urged the Federal Reserve to adopt quantitative easing instead of quantitative tightening. The USDJPY tumbled to a low of 111.35, and the EURUSD to a high of $1.1247.

Metals

Precious metals prices edged higher as the dollar weakened along with US Treasury yields. The gold ounce climber to a ten-day high of $1297, the silver ounce rallied to $15.19, while palladium rebounded from a two-month low of $1325 to trade higher at $1382.

Oil                                                                                    

Oil prices resumed the rally higher support by the OPEC-led supply cuts and US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran. The Trump administration introduced new sanctions on Venezuela on Friday, trying to take down president Maduro. The ongoing turmoil in Venezuela already is weighing heavily on the country's oil exports. Moreover, the prospects of further sanctions on Iran as the waivers expire in May are rising. On the other hand, despite the latest surge in Libya's oil production, the output remains vulnerable to the latest military developments in Tripoli. The West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed to $63.47, and the Brent futures jumped to $70.76.

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