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MORNING Quote AMERICAS-Japan, China control dollar as quarter nears end

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and international markets from Mike Dolan

A holiday-shortened final week of the quarter began with a. whimper in monetary markets, with the buoyant dollar knocked by. issue about Japanese and Chinese action to shore up the. listing yen and yuan.

As the Easter break in a lot of western markets appears in view,. investors can look back at a pretty resilient very first quarter that's. seen Wall St stocks set new records and gains widen out beyond. a handful of megacap tech names to other sectors and also around. the world.

While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both up more. than 10% for the year to date, the equal-weighted S&P 500. - which adjusts for the effect of giant stocks such as. the 'Magnificent Seven' megacap tech leaders - is also up 6%. Japan's Nikkei is up 13%, while MSCI's all-country index. has gained more than 7%.

The spluttering of some of the Big Tech leaders this year. amid installing antitrust proceed both sides of the Atlantic just. serves to highlight the excellent gains of wider indexes.

Last week's sweep of central bank conferences appear to have. convinced everybody rate of interest cuts are coming over the end of. the second quarter and abroad policymakers will at least match. the Federal Reserve blow for blow - speculation that lifted the. dollar across the board last week.

China's renminbi was a notable casualty on Friday as the. offshore yuan skidded to a 2024 low. Thought. selling of dollars by state-owned banks on Monday and a strong. main assistance from the country's central bank seems to have. steadied the ship, although the overseas system is still. almost 0.5% weaker than Thursday's close.

In Japan too - where the Bank of Japan ended its negative. rates of interest policy last week - the sliding yen seems to have. found a foothold simply under 152 per dollar as traders. grow cautious of official intervention on further sharp losses.

Japan's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda stated on Monday. the yen's present weakness did not show fundamentals, appeared. somewhat speculative and nothing would be ruled out if moves got. out of hand. I feel something strange about it, he said.

The total tone seemed to dampen stock markets in Asia on. Monday, with the Nikkei slipping back 1% and Chinese stocks off. too. European stocks and Wall St futures were a little steadier.

CALMER RATE, BOND MARKETS

Rates of interest and bond markets appeared calm, with Treasury. yields hovering around Friday's close. That's even. as Atlanta Fed manager Raphael Bostic sent out a hawkish note late. Friday by stating he now anticipates simply a single quarter-point. interest rate cut this year instead of the 2 he had predicted. previously, mentioning consistent inflation and strong economic data.

The big financial report of the week is Friday's release of. the Fed's favored PCE inflation gauge for February - but Wall St. stock market will be closed for Good Friday and will not get a. possibility to respond up until next week.

And there was relief that another threatened government. shutdown was averted over the weekend - and the issue put aside. for six months. With two-year notes under the hammer once again later on. on Monday, the main Treasury market volatility index has. fallen to its lowest in more than 2 years.

Congress early on Saturday extremely passed a $1.2. trillion budget expense, keeping the government funded through a. that started six months earlier. Key federal companies. including the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, State. and Treasury, which houses the Irs, will. now remain moneyed through Sept. 30.

Elsewhere in domestic politics, previous U.S. President Donald. Trump deals with a Monday deadline to post a bond covering a $454. million civil judgment versus him in a New York state case,. after a judge discovered he had overemphasized the value of his possessions.

And in geopolitics, President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime. Minister Fumio Kishida will agree next month to tighter military. cooperation, including talks on the biggest possible change to. Washington's East Asia command structure in decades.

Key journal items that may provide instructions to U.S. markets later. on Friday:. * US Feb brand-new home sales, Dallas Fed March making survey,. Chicago Fed Feb service study. * Federal Reserve Board Guv Lisa Cook and Atlanta Fed. President Raphael Bostic speaks. Bank of England policymaker. Catherine Mann speaks. * United States Treasury sells 2-year notes, 3- and 6-month expenses

(source: Reuters)