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Asian shares continue to rise, while the dollar languishes in front of the ECB

The U.S. Dollar remained stagnant as the European Central Bank released its outlook on a turbulent global economy.

Dollar fell in the previous session due to weak U.S. data on jobs and services. Friday will bring more important employment data. The damage to the U.S. economic system is becoming more evident as a result of President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies, and bilateral agreements remain unrealised.

Canada was preparing possible retaliations against new U.S. tariffs on metals, while the European Union announced progress in its trade negotiations with Washington. Market watchers will therefore pay more attention to the signals that Christine Lagarde gives about future decisions.

Kyle Rodda is a senior analyst for Capital.com. He said that there's uncertainty regarding the guidance given by the central bank, due to the uncertain outlook of U.S. global trade policy and U.S. Trade Policy. If the central bank fails to provide sufficiently dovish advice, it could disrupt the equity markets and give the euro upward momentum.

Trump's doubled tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum took effect on Wednesday. They were aimed at Canada and Mexico. On the same day, Trump's administration asked trading partners for "best offers" to prevent other import levies from taking effect in July.

Ryosei Acaza, Japan's top trade negotiator, will be in the U.S. for a second round of negotiations on Thursday. Friedrich Merz is due to travel to Washington as well.

MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan rose 0.7% in the early trading, while Japan's Nikkei index fell 0.2%.

The dollar index (which measures the greenback versus a basket currencies) was flat at 98.85, after a 0.5% decline on Wednesday.

The dollar gained 0.1% to 142.92 yen. The euro traded at $1.1416, unchanged from the previous trading session when it had gained 0.4%.

Gold lost its gains of the previous day, while oil fell after an increase in U.S. stocks and Saudi Arabia slashed its July crude prices for Asian buyers.

Spot gold was down 0.1% to $3,372.7 an ounce. U.S. crude fell 0.2% to $62.75 per barrel.

The Euro Stoxx futures for the entire region were not much changed, while U.S. stocks futures, S&P 500 E-minis were down by 0.1%.

(source: Reuters)