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Stocks flat, oil climbs up as dollar cornered by yen and yuan

Stock exchange took a. breather on Monday from their record highs of current sessions as. investors aimed to a shortened trading week, topped by key. U.S. inflation information on Friday, due to the upcoming Easter. holiday.

U.S. stock index futures were. a little weaker.

Market participants are hoping that Friday's U.S. prices. data will back investor bets for a June interest rate cut by the. Federal Reserve.

Boeing Co was a concentrate on Wall Street after the. planemaker said its CEO Dave Calhoun would step down by year-end. amidst a sprawling safety crisis.

Oil criteria Brent hovered near to $86 a barrel as. hostilities intensified in the Middle East, and between Russia. and Ukraine, with energy facilities targeted in the two-year. old war.

The dollar slipped, with the threat of currency. intervention from Japanese authorities and a government-driven. rally in China's yuan weighing on the U.S. currency.

The yen was within striking range of a 32-year low as. Japan's leading currency diplomat said on Monday the unit's. weakness did not show basics.

The MSCI All Nation stock index was down. 0.1%, though still just about 5 points listed below its all-time high. of last Thursday.

In Europe, the STOXX index of 600 business was a. touch weaker at 508.10 points after striking a life time high of. 510.46 points on Friday. Goldman Sachs raised its 2024 target. for the criteria to 540 from 510, mentioning prospective enhancement. in financial growth and rate cuts.

U.S. stock indexes likewise struck record highs last week, with the. S&P 500 on Friday ending with its most significant weekly. portion gain of 2024 after the U.S. Federal Reserve stuck. with forecasts for 3 rate cuts by year's end.

Jason Da Silva, director of worldwide investment technique at. Arbuthnot Latham, stated the Fed's remarks provided markets some. comfort, and Monday's indications of combination in stocks should. not be surprising after the momentum seen up until now this year.

The market is simply taking in what it's seen in the last. week or 2, but unless there are any major surprises in either. inflation or development, it's tough to see where the marketplace cracks. come through, Da Silva said.

U.S. INFLATION DATA

The primary data event of the week will be the U.S. core. individual consumption expenditure (PCE) rate index on Friday,. which is seen increasing 0.3% in February, keeping the yearly speed. at 2.8%. Analysts state that anything higher would be taken as a. setback to bets for a Fed rate cut in June.

Many markets are closed for the Easter break on Friday, when. the PCE data is due for release, so the full response may not. come until next week.

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

Powell will participate 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 customer cost information. out from France, Italy, Belgium and Spain, ahead of the overall. EU CPI report on April 3.

Sweden's central bank satisfies on Wednesday and is normally. expected to keep rates at 4.0%.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei dipped 1.1%, having surged. 5.6% recently to a fresh all-time peak as the yen damaged.

Even a shift away from super-easy policies by the Bank of. Japan (BOJ) might not damage the dollar, as investors assumed it. was not the start of a series of futures and hikes indicate a rate. of simply 20 basis points by year end.

The dollar was at 151.22 yen, having climbed up 1.6%. last week to a peak of 151.86. Markets watch out for screening. 152.00, a level that has drawn Japanese intervention in the. past.

The euro was at $1.0831, having been dragged down. in the wake of the Swiss franc after the SNB's rate cut.

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

Oil prices were underpinned by Ukraine's attacks on Russian. refineries, in addition to data revealing a fall in U.S. rig counts.

Brent rose 0.3% to $85.74 a barrel, while U.S. crude. firmed 0.4% to $80.98 per barrel. Both criteria have. risen progressively this year, up in between 11 and 12.5% by Friday's. close.

(source: Reuters)