The US

The Dollar index weakened by 0.01% to 104.00. The impact from the higher interest rates has shown its impact on the labour market. Latest numbers showed that the US unemployment rate increased to 3.7% in May 2023 (April 2023: 3.4%). On a level basis, the total number of unemployed people increased by 440k to 6.1 million.

US Equities & Sovereign Bonds

Wall Street closed lower, where Dow Jones was down by 0.59% to 33,563, S&P500 decreased by 0.20% to 4,274, and Nasdaq down by 0.09% to 13,229.

On Monday, the UST10Y benchmark yield was down 1bps to 3.683% and the UST2Y declined 3 bps to 4.466%, and the inverted differential widened to 78 bps.

Euro Area

The Euro was up 0.05% to 1.071. The Euro Area’s producer inflation grew slower by 1.0% y/y in April 2023 (March 2023: 5.5% y/y) the lowest level since January 2021, a sign of further easing of inflation. Nonetheless, market players remained cautious on the ECB’s rate hike outlook, taking cue from the hawkish tone by Christine Lagarde, the central bank’s President.

The UK

The British Pound was down 0.12% to 1.244. On the data front, the S&P Global/CIPS Composite PMI fell only slightly to 54.0 in May 2023 from 54.9 in April 2023, benefitting from the solid economic activities in the services sector.

Japan

The Japanese Yen gained 0.24% to 139.58. We saw that the Composite PMI in Japan improved to 54.3 in May 2023 compared to 52.9 in April, marking the fastest growth in private sector since October 2013. The improvement was driven mainly by both services and manufacturing PMI reading as the latter saw growth for the first time in 11 months.

China

The Yuan was down by 0.05% to 7.102. In line with global trend, China’s Composite PMI remained in the growth threshold as the headline reading rose to 55.6 from 53.6 with higher economic activities were seen in the services sector.

South Korea

The Won was down 0.24% to 1,308. On Friday, inflation in South Korea continue to ease and reaching the lowest level since October 2021 as data showed the growth in consumer price fell to 3.3% y/y in May 2023 (April 2023: 3.7% y/y). Despite that, the Bank of Korea noted that the future inflation path remained uncertain due to the volatile global oil price, external and internal economic growth, and the increase of public utility prices.

Australia

The Aussie gained 0.11% to 0.662. The focus today will be on RBA’s policy decision where the market is split whether the central bank will pause or continue raising its interest rate, especially after the monthly CPI indicator is showing stillred hot inflation threat for the economy.

Crude Oil

Brent Was Up by 0.76% to USD77 Per Barrel and WTI Was Up by 0.57% to USD72 Per Barrel.

Gold

Gold Was Up 0.71% to USD1,962/oz, Trading Higher So Far in June 2023.

Malaysia Highlights

The Ringgit Unchanged at 4.577, as the Market Was Closed in Respect to the Agong’s Birthday.

Ringgit Outlook for the Week

The support level for USD/MYR is seen at 4.590 and 4.600 while resistance is pinned at 4.620 and 4.650.

FBM KLCI

The FBM KLCI Remained at 1,383 as the Market Was Closed Yesterday.

Source: AmInvest Research - 6 Jun 2023