Asian stock markets closed higher after investors reacted to the RRR cut from the PBoC. Many investors saw that the People’s Bank of China’s decision to freeing up 1 Trillion yuan might affect the market. All in a bid to strengthen the country’s economic recovery and to further prevent risk explosion in the second half of this year, experts said

The positive market environment has weighed on the strength of the dollar. With the US dollar index gaining traction around 92.20. Meanwhile in Britain, the GBP strengthens after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans to end the COVID-19 restrictions in the UK effective 19 July. Effectively making way for most businesses to operate better with more and more people expected to flood the streets once business resumes as usual. The risk-on market environment gives strength to high-beta currencies such as the NZD. The RBNZ is going to update the public regarding accommodative monetary policy measures and tools deployed to boose the local economy due to the coronavirus pandemic and the more recently contagious Delta variant seeking more victims around the globe.

Oil prices fell on Monday, extending losses from the previous week, on fears that OPEC+ countries might begin to release crude on their own following the failure to resolve differences between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the extension of oil supply. As investors await US consumer price data on Tuesday and Powell’s testimony before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday for clues on the central bank’s policy tightening, gold was hovering around $1,800 an ounce, near 3-week highs.