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 Investors were digesting updated euro zone Purchasing Managers'
Index and unemployment figures after Chinese factory PMIs earlier
had helped reinforce signs of stabilisation in its giant economy.
Markit's final euro zone manufacturing PMI fell to 51.8 in June from
May's 52.2, its lowest since November, but it has now held above the
50 mark that separates growth from contraction for a full year.
European shares were also helped off the blocks by France's biggest
bank BNP Paribas as it settled a $9 billion U.S. sanctions case,
though worries over of a number of Portuguese banks hit stocks
there.
Italian and Spanish bonds made ground too as economists wagered the
anaemic euro zone manufacturing figures and jobs data would be
subdued enough to keep the European Central Bank (ECB) thinking
about easing policy.
Weak inflation numbers on Monday only served to reinforce the ECB's
unprecedented policy measures last month.
"The ECB will certainly take this data into account and EMU
inflation remains at a very low level and this rather supports the
dovish tone of the ECB in general but not changing their view for
now," DZ Bank strategist Christian Lenk said.
A string of fairly upbeat but minor U.S. economic figures published
on Monday also did little to weaken expectations, rekindled after
surprisingly weak first quarter growth data, that the U.S. Fed will
also not be in any rush to raise rates.
Asian shares drifted around recent three-year highs overnight.
Japan's Nikkei rose 1.3 percent.
AWAITING U.S. JOBS REPORT
San Francisco Fed President John Williams said on Monday the U.S.
central bank will probably need to keep interest rates near zero for
at least another year.
While this Thursday's U.S. employment report has potential to change
that perception, investors for now are counting on an easy policy
stance by the Fed, which undermines the attraction of dollar.
The dollar index hit a seven-week low of 79.759 on Monday and stood
barely above that at 79.861 in early European trading. Meanwhile,
10-year U.S. government bond yields - an important benchmark for
both the greenback and global borrowing costs - inched up to 2.55
percent.
"I think the big question for the second half of the year is when is
this so-called dollar rally that we have been waiting 12, maybe even
24 months for is going to happen," CMC markets strategist Michael
Hewson said.
With the dollar struggling, the euro hovered just off Monday's
six-week high at $1.3681, giving ECB policy makers at Thursday's
meeting cause for frustration. The euro is back to levels seen last
month before it announced its aggressive easing measures.
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Japan's yen was in a similar position at 101.43 yen to the dollar.
It showed little reaction to mixed readings in the Bank of Japan's
tankan corporate survey, while the Australian dollar <AUD=D4> inched
towards a 2014 high after its central bank kept rates on hold and
steered clear of talking down the currency.
GEOPOLITICAL ANGST
Another of the assets continuing to defy gloomy bets at the start of
the year was gold as heightened geopolitical tensions and the limp
dollar lifted it to a 2-1/2-month high of $1,332.10 per ounce.
Newly elected Iraqi lawmakers convene on Tuesday, under pressure to
name a unity government to keep the country from splitting apart.
Ukraine was also threatening. President Petro Poroshenko said on
Tuesday government forces would renew their offensive against
rebels, just hours after a ceasefire to allow for peace talks with
the pro-Russian separatists had expired.
Still, oil prices eased from nine-month highs hit last month as
government forces in Iraq appeared to be keeping Sunni militants
away from major refineries in country's south.
Brent crude gained 14 cents to $112.50 a barrel by 0730 GMT, after
ending down 94 cents at its lowest since the rally spurred by the
Iraqi crisis started on June 12. U.S. oil rose 31 cents to $105.68 a
barrel.
"We certainly need to keep an eye on Iraq and see what is happening
in Ukraine. But overall economic data, including from the United
States, seems to suggest the global economy is improving,"
OptionsXpress markets analyst Ben Le Brun said.
(Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo; Editing by Louise
Ireland)
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