Asian currencies advanced amid broad weakness in the dollar and US assets as investors awaited further progress on trade deals.
Crude oil slumped 3.6% after OPEC+ agreed to a further surge in output. A gauge of regional currencies rose, with the Taiwan dollar surging as much as 5% in the biggest intraday gain in over three decades, and the Malaysian ringgit rising 1% to the highest since October.
The dollar declined for a second day and US equity-index futures dropped 0.7%, after President Donald Trump said he had no plans to talk to his Chinese counterpart this week.
Gold rose 0.5%. There’s no cash trading in Treasuries in Asia as Japan is closed for a holiday, along with markets in Hong Kong and China.
A combination of repatriation buying and traders seeking alternative investments amid the “sell America” wave has helped Asian currencies strengthen recently.
Financial markets have steadied in the past two weeks – the S&P 500 on Friday posted its longest winning streak in two decades – amid signs that talks with Asian nations are progressing and trade tensions between China and the US are thawing.
