Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV) said it would hire 4,000 this year and invest millions in artificial intelligence, as it seeks to survive what it describes as a “bloody sea” of competition in the world’s largest auto market.
Most Asian currencies kept to a tight range on Monday, while the dollar steadied near three-month highs as more signs of sticky U.S. inflation saw traders largely phase out expectations of early U.S. interest rate cuts.
Gold prices rose in Asian trade on Monday, extending a rebound from one-month lows after recently breaking below a key support level, although fears of higher-for-longer U.S. rates kept prices largely rangebound.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (TYO:7003), which rose 12.21% or 135.00 points to trade at 1,241.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Aozora Bank, Ltd. (TYO:8304) added 5.64% or 114.00 points to end at 2,136.00 and Obayashi Corp. (TYO:1802) was up 5.49% or 75.00 points to 1,440.50 in late trade.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX:A2M), which rose 14.55% or 0.74 points to trade at 5.79 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 9.23% or 0.03 points to end at 0.35 and Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX:RWC) was up 5.67% or 0.25 points to 4.66 in late trade.
The dollar was steady on Friday, on track for its fifth straight weekly gain, as investors take stock of economic data and firm expectations of the Federal Reserve cutting rates in June, while the yen traded at the psychologically key 150 per dollar level.
Regional currencies took little relief from overnight losses in the dollar, which fell from a three-month high after data showed an unexpected contraction in retail sales in January.
Bullion prices rose back above the $2,000 an ounce level on Thursday after breaking well below the level earlier in the week. Some safe haven demand- following data showing recessions in Japan and the UK- also aided gold prices.
JPMorgan had been quite concerned that the enthusiasm in Bitcoin over the last three months was being driven by unrealistic optimism for new money going into the cryptocurrency market through the newly approved and recently launched U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO), which rose 7.84% or 0.54 points to trade at 7.43 at the close. Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 7.51% or 0.26 points to end at 3.72 and Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) was up 7.28% or 0.11 points to 1.62 in late trade.
