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Asia shares flat, dollar limited by Japan care

Asian shares dithered on Monday as investors worried U.S. inflation information this week could derail the outlook for lower rate of interest, while the risk of currency intervention from Japan stalled the yen's decline for the minute.

China's central bank likewise engineered a rally in the yuan after setting a firmer repair for the currency, pushing the dollar lower more broadly.

The main data event of the week will be U.S. core personal intake expenditure (PCE) rate index on Friday which is seen rising 0.3% in February, keeping the annual pace at 2.8%. Anything higher would be taken as a setback to expect a. Federal Reserve rate cut in June.

Lots of markets are closed for Easter on Friday, when the PCE. information is due for release, so the full response will have to wait. till next week.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell was adequately dovish last week to. leave futures implying around a 74% possibility of a June easing, up. from 55% a week earlier.

Powell will take part in a moderated conversation at a. policy conference on Friday, while Fed governors Lisa Cook and. Christopher Waller are also appearing today.

Europe has its own inflation tests with consumer cost data. out from France, Italy, Belgium and Spain, ahead of the general. EU CPI report on April 3.

Sweden's central bank satisfies on Wednesday and is typically. anticipated to keep rates at 4.0%, though a surprise alleviating by the. Swiss National Bank (SNB) last week has markets expecting a. dovish declaration.

Expectations for falling loaning costs worldwide has been a. benefit for equities, with the S&P 500 up practically 10% for the year. to date. On Monday, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. were trading bit changed.

EUROSTOXX 50 futures added 0.1%, while FTSE futures. hardly budged.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan. was flat, simply listed below eight-month highs.

Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.6%, having spiked 5.6% last. week to a fresh all-time peak as the yen compromised.

While the Fed sounded dovish recently, it was barely alone,. with the Swiss reserve bank (SNB) really cutting rates while. the Bank of England (BoE) and European Reserve Bank (ECB) left. markets trying to find easings from June onwards.

JAPAN JAWBONES THE YEN

We think the dollar's rebound reflects the more clearly. dovish stance of other major reserve banks-- in particular the. SNB and the BoE, stated Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets. economic expert at Capital Economics.

The PBOC's apparent decision to let the renminbi weaken. sharply has added to the general dollar-positive tone, he. added. In general, the greenback heads into the Easter holiday. period securely on the front foot, and continued solid U.S. financial information is most likely to keep it that way.

Even a shift away from super-easy policies by the Bank of. Japan (BOJ) might not damage the dollar, as financiers presumed it. was not the start of a series of futures and walkings suggest a rate. of just 20 basis points by year end.

On Monday, the dollar was a shade lower at 151.23 yen. , having actually climbed up 1.6% last week to a peak of 151.86. Markets are wary of testing 152.00 as that is a level that has. drawn Japanese intervention in the past.

Certainly, Japan's top currency authorities on Monday alerted the. yen's current weakness did not reflect fundamentals and. excessive relocations were undesirable.

The euro was pinned at $1.0815, having been. dragged down in the wake of the Swiss franc after the. SNB's shock rate cut.

The strength of the dollar had taken some shine off gold,. though the metal was edging greater again to $2,174 an ounce. , after striking a record peak of $2,217.79 last week.

Oil costs were underpinned by Ukraine's attacks on Russian. refineries, together with information showing a fall in U.S. rig counts.

Brent increased 46 cents to $85.89 a barrel, while U.S. unrefined firmed 48 cents to $81.11 per barrel.

(source: Reuters)