In Asia stocks were higher after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen gave a largely upbeat assessment on the U.S. economic outlook, while the dollar declined on diminishing expectations of interest rate increases in coming months. The Nikkei edged up 0.2% to 16,610.19.
The USD/JPY rose 0.2% to 107.81 yen. The EUR/USD edged up 0.1% to $1.1360. The GBP/USD added 0.7% to $1.4524. The AUD/USD rose 0.6% to $0.7413 to one-month highs after the Reserve Bank of Australia held policy steady as expected, and said its decision was consistent with sustainable growth.
Brent crude prices inched lower on Tuesday after, but market momentum appeared strong on a weak dollar, French refinery restarts, Nigerian oil infrastructure attacks and falling U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude for August delivery was down 14 cents at $50.41 a barrel, after settling up 91 cents on Monday. It rose as high as $50.49, just shy of $50.83 in the previous session, the strongest since Nov. 4. NYMEX crude for July delivery was down 11 cents at $49.58 a barrel, after settling up $1.07 on Monday.
In US the S&P 500 closed at a 7-month high on Monday as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen painted a mostly upbeat picture ofthe economy but gave little sense of when a rate hike may be coming.The S&P 500 gained 0.49%, to 2,109.41.
In Bond Markets Treasury 10-year notes fell for the first time in five days as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said positive U.S. economic developments will probably outweigh negative forces and called gradual interest-rate increases appropriate. Benchmark U.S. 10-year note yields rose four basis points to 1.74 percent. German 10-year Bunds rebounded to 0.78 percent on Monday and was up 0.5 bps. Italian 10-year yields rose 6.6 bps to 1.41 percent after the electoral setback for the government.
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