A volatile start to April looked like getting out of hand this week as a combination of stern Federal Reserve warnings about stubborn inflation and geopolitical stress sent the dollar rocketing and seeded four straight daily losses for Wall St stocks.Despite the Middle East tensions and punchy U.S. economic readouts, U.S. crude prices turned tail and have now recoiled some 6.5% from Friday's 2024 highs to levels last seen before Israel's attack on Iran's Syrian consulate on April 1.
The dollar, similarly, has come off the boil - partly after a warning shot from Japan, South Korea and the United States about potentially destabilizing currency moves in Asia. Easing market concerns that China may allow its yuan to weaken into a competitive regional exporting scramble too, China's deputy central bank governor Zhu Hexin separately on Thursday restated Beijing's "determination in keeping the yuan exchange rate basically stable."
Financial stocks have had a rough week, with heavy earnings-related share price swoons for Travelers and U.S. Bancorp on Wednesday.