【Top1 Evening】The oil market reappears with hidden worries. USD and gold prices rise slightly.Market is cautious before the FED meeting.

Gold: higher gold prices

Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,735.76 per ounce. US gold futures rose 0.4% to US$1,735.90 per ounce. Spot silver was flat at US$26.27, platinum rose 0.6% to US$1,220.01, and palladium rose 0.5% to US$2,399.12.

"Gold has risen due to falling U.S. bond yields. Investors are taking the opportunity to buy gold at lower prices, betting on long-term uncertainties such as falling interest rates and rising inflation," said Kunal Shah, head of research at Nirmal Bang Commodities in Mumbai.

Fed officials are expected to predict that the U.S. economy will grow at the fastest rate in decades in 2021. "The Fed may comment on rising inflation concerns, and even consider shifting asset purchases to compensate for rising yields, which will be very beneficial to gold prices," said DailyFX strategist Margaret Yang.

Crude oil: oil prices fell slightly

US WTI crude oil futures prices fell 42 cents, or 0.64%, to $64.97 per barrel. Brent crude oil futures prices fell 47 cents, or 0.68%, to $68.41 per barrel. Natural gas prices fell 0.16% to US$2.494.

At midday in the Asian market, crude oil prices fell slightly as the market worried that the US crude oil inventories would increase and the European vaccination work might slow down the pace of recovery of fuel demand.

For fear of side effects, the three giants in Europe, Germany, France and Italy, have stopped vaccinating vaccines jointly developed by AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN) and Oxford University. A large number of European countries, including Ireland and the Netherlands, have also suspended vaccination of this vaccine.

The suspension of AstraZeneca vaccination has intensified market concerns about whether Europe can quickly get out of the public health crisis. Therefore, the move may delay the economic recovery and drag down fuel demand.

Forex: the dollar rose slightly

The dollar rose slightly because the foreign exchange market was controlled by a cautious atmosphere before the major central banks met. The Fed will start a two-day meeting later on Tuesday.

The U.S. dollar was hovering slightly below its highest level since June against the Japanese yen, while it was stable at around $1.19 against the euro, and market trading was quiet.

The British pound fell by about 0.2% against the U.S. dollar to $1.3871. The Bank of England will hold a meeting on Thursday.

The benchmark interest rate remains at a historical low of 0.1%, and the bond purchase plan remains unchanged.

The US dollar index was flat at 91.798 and rose nearly 0.2% on Monday.

Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar  little change against the US dollar. With bets that commodity prices will rebound with economic growth, the ANZ currency is expected to rise for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Bitcoin fell to around US$54,198.64 and rose to a record high of US$61,781.83 on Saturday.

Stock market: European stocks continue to rise

The Japanese stock market was boosted by expectations of the US recovery, and the Topix Index hit a 20-year high.

The UK FTSE 100 index reported 6785 points, up 35 points or 0.53%; the German DAX index reported 14535 points, up 74 points or 0.51%; France’s CAC 40 index reported 6053 points, up 17 points or 0.3%; Italy’s FTSE MIB index It reported 24290 points, up 150 points or 0.62%.

The East Securities Index .TOPX closed up 0.65% to 1,981.50 points, the highest closing level since May 14, 1991. SoftBank Group contributed the most to the index, followed by Sony 6758.T, which rose 1.62%.

The Nikkei index .N225 closed up 0.52% to 29,921.09 points.

Dow futures temporarily reported 32815 points, down 35 points.

Focus

March 16 18:00 (GMT+8) ZEW Economic Sentiment Index

March 16th 20:30 (GMT+8) U.S. retail sales monthly rate