Shanghai Reopening Plan Facilitates Risk Recovery

Market sentiment stabilised in the wake of Wednesday's equity rout on Wall Street, as e-minis shed initial weakness and climbed into the green. The turnaround in risk appetite was supported by the news that the Shanghai port has resumed 90% of its cargo-handling capacity, with local authorities outlining further re-opening steps.

• The yen paced losses among traditional safe-haven currencies. A contact flagged USD/JPY purchases linked to Japanese corporate names as well as retail clients who were adding to longs.
• Commodity-tied currencies benefited from an uptick in crude oil prices, with the Aussie dollar taking the lead. AUD/USD returned above the $0.7000 mark, while regional risk barometer AUD/JPY ripped through the Y90.00 figure.
• The latest batch of Australia's jobs market figures failed to move the needle on RBA expectations to any significant degree, as below-forecast employment growth was offset, but full-time positions soared. Still, the unemployment rate slipped to the lowest level in almost 50 years.
• U.S. initial jobless claims & existing home sales will take focus after Asia hours. Central bank speaker slate features Fed's Kashkari, ECB's de Guindos, de Cos, Verstager, Holzmann as well as Riksbank's Floden. In addition, the ECB will publish the minutes from its April monetary policy meeting.