In Asia stocks ended lower on Thursday, led by falling Japanese equities, while a weaker dollar buoyed commodities such as gold and crude oil. The Nikkei pulled back 1.3%, hurt by a stronger yen.
The New Zealand dollar rose to a one-year high after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept interest rates unchanged, surprising some investors who had been betting on a rate cut. The kiwi was up 1.7% at $0.7140 and climbed to $0.7148 at one point, reaching a high not seen since June 2015 after the RBNZ held rates steady but retained an easing bias. The USD/JPY was 0.3% lower at 106.63 yen and the EUR/USD rose 0.1% to $1.1405. The GBP/USD, which has whipsawed in recent sessions on divergent surveys on the likely vote outcome, eased 0.1% to $1.4494.
Oil prices buoyed by a fall in U.S. crude inventories, a weaker dollar and strong demand, but some analysts warned that the recent rally was starting to look overblown. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $52.70 per barrel, up 19 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was 32 cents higher at $51.55 a barrel.
In US the Dow ended above 18,000 for the first time since April on Wednesday as declines in the dollar lifted some commodity-related shares and boosted the outlook for multinationals. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.37%, to 18,005.05. The S&P 500 gained 0.33%, to 2,119.12. Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ:LULU) shares rose 4.9% after first-quarter sales beat analyst expectations. VeriFone Systems (NYSE:PAY) fell 24.7%, a day after announcing lower-than-expected earnings and said it intends to reduce headcount and conduct a strategic review to address underperforming businesses.
In Bond Markets Japanese government bonds were higher on Thursday, led by 5-year JGBs after strong demand at an auction of those notes. The 5-year JGB yield fell 1.5 basis points to minus 0.240 percent. The benchmark 10-year yield edged down half a basis point to minus 0.120 percent, while June 10-year futures added 0.13 point to 152.13. The Ministry of Finance offered 2.4 trillion yen ($22.51 billion) of 5-year JGBs with a 0.10 percent coupon.
Economic Calendar
08:00 GMT+1 EU ECB President Draghi Speaks
13:30 GMT+1 US Unemployment Claims
16:15 GMT+1 CAD BOC Gov Poloz Speaks
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