Precious metals and safe havens gave up ground around the globe as sentiment shone from Asia to the United states following positive data, which showed the U.S. construction spending at its highest since 2007, while the ISM manufacturing PMI came at 49.5 in February, beating expectations of 48.5 and much better than January's 48.2 reading.
Additional data showed the Canadian economy growing 0.2% m/m in December, better than analysts' expectations of a 0.1% growth, while on the other side of the globe, Australia's GDP expanded by 0.6% q/q in the fourth quarter of 2015, beating expectations of a 0.5% growth, although noticeably lower than third quarter's 1.1% growth.
Silver futures gave up eight cents, or more than half a percent to trade at $14.81 an ounce, while similarly, gold futures dipped three dollars, or 0.25% to hover around $1,228 an ounce, moving father away from a one-year peak at $1,260 as investors transfer the liquidity to stock markets from metals markets.
Oil prices slipped today after hitting multi-month highs yesterday, following a massive build-up in U.S. inventories, with Brent crude futures falling 11 cents, or 0.30% to $36.70 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures shed 35 cents, or one percent to trade at $34.05 a barrel.
Asian shares surged on Wednesday to a two-month high, drawing support from China's cut to banks reserve requirements by 0.50%, the fifth such cut since February 2015 to boost the world's second biggest economy as it faces global headwinds and contracting exports. A Monday's surge by Wall Street also sweetened the pot for Asian traders, supercharging them higher.
Japan's Nikkei index jumped four percent to trade at 16,740, while Australian shares soared two percent, while China's Shanghai index rebounded handily by 3.15% after a string of hammering losses last week. South Korea's KOSPI similarly climbed 1.70%, while India's Nifty added 1.84%.
Investors wait for a basket of data today, with Britain's construction PMI expected at a strong 55.0 in February, same as January and an indication of the strength of the British housing sector in the first quarter of this year, good news for sterling.
From the U.S., the official survey tracking crude oil inventories is forecast to show an addition of 2.5 million barrels, added to the previous reading's 3.5M increase, which would pressure crude prices further downwards.