PHNOM PENH: The CSX Index is currently at 534.11 Points up 2.74 Points or 0.52%
The Daily Exchange Rate: is 4,043 KHR to the USD$
Now a look what else is happing in finance around the world.
WALL STREET ENDS DOWN, OIL GAINS AS POWELL SUGGESTS AGGRESSIVE FED POLICY:
Wall Street reversed course and posted losses on Thursday while oil gained as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested the U.S. central bank would move aggressively to curb inflation.
Powell said that a half-point interest rate increase will be "on the table" when the Fed meets in May, adding it would be appropriate to "be moving a little more quickly.
U.S. stocks opened strong, buoyed by corporate earnings and strong jobless data, but began to retreat ahead of Powell's afternoon remarks. Those losses steepened after he spoke, as investor concerns about central banks' inflation fight took center stage.
Oil prices gained ground as concerns about supply due to a potential European Union ban on Russian oil came to the fore. Russian forces stepped up their attacks in eastern Ukraine on Thursday. Brent crude settled up 1.4% at $108.33 a barrel, and U.S. crude ended 1.6% higher at $103.79 a barrel.
DOLLAR'S RALLY MAY BE NEARING 'TIPPING POINT' AS FED READIES BIG HIKES:
A months-long rally in the dollar may be reaching its peak as the Federal Reserve gears up to deploy more interest rate hikes, according to the currency's trading patterns in past tightening cycles.
The dollar has risen around 7% against a basket of currencies in the past year to its highest level since March 2020, boosted in part by expectations the Fed is ready to employ robust rate hikes to tame the worst inflation in nearly 40 years.
Those gains are largely consistent with the dollar's behavior during the last four rate hike cycles, which has seen the U.S. currency climb an average of 2.2% in the 12 months before the central bank started raising interest rates.
An election win for French President Emmanuel Macron against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen on Sunday could also reduce headwinds for the euro, which is down 4.7% against the dollar this year. The Japanese yen, meanwhile, stands at a two-decade low against the dollar.
For now, however, momentum appears to be on the greenback's side. The dollar index is up 2.3% for April, on pace for its best month since June 2021. The index is also on track for its fourth straight month of gains, the longest such streak in two years.
STOCKS SOLD AS HIKES LOOM, LOCKDOWNS DRAG DOWN YUAN:
Asian shares wobbled on Friday and the Chinese Yuan slid as investors fretted about an increasingly aggressive rate-hike outlook for the United States, and the fallout for the global economy from lockdowns in China.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) fell 0.7% and touched a five-week low, weighed down by a1.6% loss for Australia's resource-heavy index (.AXJO) and a 0.8% drop in South Korean shares (.KS11).
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) fell 0.7% and touched a five-week low, weighed down by a1.6% loss for Australia's resource-heavy index (.AXJO) and a 0.8% drop in South Korean shares (.KS11).
Japan's Nikkei (.N225) declined 1.6%.
The European open is also looking weak, with EuroSTOXX 50 futures down 1.6% and FTSE futures down 1.2%. S&P 500 futures are down 0.1%.
Chinese stocks staged a recovery in volatile trade, with the mainland's bluechips (.CSI300) reversing early loses to gain 1% on hopes for policy support, but the currency remains under pressure as lockdowns in Shanghai take a bite out of growth
WORLD BANK ESTIMATES UKRAINE PHYSICAL DAMAGE AT ROUGHLY $60 BILLION SO FAR:
Physical damage to Ukraine's buildings and infrastructure from Russia's invasion has reached roughly $60 billion and will rise further as the war continues, World Bank President David Malpass said on Thursday.
Malpass told a World Bank conference on Ukraine's financial assistance needs that the early estimate of "narrow" damage costs does not include the growing economic costs of the war to Ukraine.
"Of course the war is still ongoing, so those costs are rising," Malpass said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a virtual address to the conference, outlined far bigger costs and financing needs. He told participants in interpreted remarks that Ukraine needs $7 billion per month to make up for economic losses caused by Russia's invasion of his country.
"And we will need hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild all this later," Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy said called for countries that have imposed sanctions and freezes on Russian assets to use that money to help rebuild Ukraine after the war and to pay for losses suffered by other countries.
At a news conference, Yellen said Russia should shoulder some of Ukraine's rebuilding costs.
But she cautioned that using seized Russian central bank reserves in the United States to rebuild Ukraine would be a "significant step" that would need discussions and agreement with international partners.
