Currency traders remain on high alert for yen intervention with the dollar getting closer to 155.00 yen, although there is a question whether Tokyo will act so close to the Bank of Japan‘s two-day policy meeting that starts on Thursday.
China’s yuan remains on the defensive too, slipping to a five-month low against the dollar on Monday.
Overall sentiment is fairly buoyant after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rebounded on Monday, as tech clawed back some of last week’s losses and Middle East tensions cooled.
Investors now turn their attention to this week’s earnings from some of these tech giants – Tesla, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft announce their quarterly results this week, which will go a long way to determining the outlook for U.S. and global stocks in the months ahead.
The ‘FANG’ index of mega U.S. tech stocks rose on Monday, snapping a six-day losing streak in which the index lost 10%. According to analysts at A.J. Bell, the ‘Magnificent Seven’ of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Tesla lost $1.1 trillion of market cap in those six days.
Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, will be looking to bounce back from Monday’s 1% fall. That followed a 6% slide on Friday after the company reported first quarter results.
Official figures from Taipei on Monday showed that export orders rose less than expected in March, but the government was confident that surging demand for artificial intelligence applications will fuel future demand for the island’s high-tech products.
