SYDNEY/HONG KONG: Caution gripped Asian share markets on Monday amid expectations a busy week of corporate earnings reports and economic data will drive home the damage done by the global virus lockdowns, while a glut of supply sent U.S. crude spiraling to 20-year lows.
Better news came from New Zealand where success in containing the virus allowed the government to announce an easing in the country's strict lockdown from next week. The United States has by far the world's largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 750,000 infections and over 40,500 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
The rebound in the S&P 500 therefore likely overstated optimism on the economy, Jones argued, noting European benchmark equities indices and U.S. small cap indices were still in bear market territory. That decline has shrunk the U.S. dollar's yield advantage over its peers and left it rangebound in recent weeks. So far in April, the dollar index has wandered between 98.813 and 100.940 and was last at 100.060.