US Treasurys move higher; investors keenly await Fed minutes

The Canadian dollar was last trading at C$1.3147 to the greenback, slightly weaker than Tuesday’s close of C$1.3138. It hit session high at 0.7715 and made session lows at 0.7672 levels.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, added that the minutes from the January meeting were unlikely to add anything new to what was already known.

Since the meeting, several Fed officials have sounded increasingly willing to raise rates again soon, perhaps as soon as March.

In a speech that shed little light on whether the USA central bank would move as soon as next month to tighten policy, Governor Jerome Powell said the Fed was wise to have been patient in recent years. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.7679 USA dollar from 0.7663 US dollar.

Japan’s Topix index declined 0.5 per cent, following three days of gains.

European shares were steady at 14-month highs on Wednesday, supported by well-received earnings updates from companies such as Lloyds, Telefonica Deutschland and Scor.

Oil prices dipped. Brent crude, the worldwide benchmark, traded at $US56.50 a barrel, down 17 cents.

This was the first meeting since Trump took office, and while the president was never mentioned, talk of his policies were scattered throughout.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up nearly 0.2 percent, its ninth straight record-close.

A Federal Reserve policymaker suggested on Tuesday he would support an interest rate increase at a mid-March policy meeting as long as inflation, output and other data until then continue to show the US economy is growing.

German two-year yields hit a record low of minus 0.9 per cent while U.S. equivalents touched 1.24 per cent. Yields fell as low as 2.391 percent, their lowest level since February 9. After the financial crisis, the Fed bought $3.5 trillion in Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities in a campaign to hold down long-term interest rates. It had moved between a one-week high of 101.720 and a low of 101.170 on Wednesday. Members didn’t mention Trump by name but rather the key three factors in his economic policy plans – tax reform, relaxed regulations and aggressive fiscal spending.

Spot gold prices slipped 0.13 per cent, to US$1,236.60 an ounce.

Stock prices across the world climbed to record highs on Tuesday on news euro zone business activity accelerated to a six-year high, while the dollar gained after hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials.

By late morning in Asia, the dollar stood at 113.19 yen, just 0.1 percent firmer having lost some of its early bounce following Wednesday’s 0.7 percent tumble. US crude settled up 66 cents or 1.24 percent at $54.06.