Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei down -1.11%, Shanghai Composite up 0.07 %, Hang Seng lost 0.24 %, ASX down 0.08%
- Commodities: Gold at $1364.20 (+0.58%), Silver at $17.67 (+1.03%), WTI Oil at $66.27 (+1.01 %), Brent Oil at $71.02 (+0.69 %)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.637, UK 10-year yield at 1.407, German 10-year yield at 0.580
News & Data:
- (NZD) CPI q/q 0.1% vs 0.4% expected
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories -1.1M vs -1.0M expected
- (AUD) CB Leading Index m/m 0.3% vs 0.3% previous
- (USD) Existing Home Sales 5.57M vs 5.72M expected
- (USD) Flash Services PMI 53.3 vs 54.5 expected
- (USD) Flash Manufacturing PMI 55.5 vs 55.2 expected
- (USD) HPI m/m 0.4% vs 0.4% expected
- (GBP) Unemployment Rate 4.3% vs 4.3% expected
- (GBP) Claimant Count Change 8.6K vs 2.3K expected
- (GBP) Average Earnings Index 3m/y 2.5% vs 2.5% expected
- (EUR) Flash Services PMI 57.6 vs 56.5 expected
- (EUR) Flash Manufacturing PMI 59.6 vs 60.4 expected
- (EUR) German Flash Services PMI 57 vs 55.6 expected
- (EUR) German Flash Manufacturing PMI 61.2 vs 63.2 expected
- (EUR) French Flash Services PMI 59.3 vs 58.9 expected
- (EUR) French Flash Manufacturing PMI 58.1 vs 58.7 expected
- (NZD) Credit Card Spending y/y 6.3% vs 9.1% previous
- (JPY) Flash Manufacturing PMI 54.4 vs 54.3 expected
- China says cooperation is only the 'correct direction' for China-US trade ties
- Steven Mnuchin: Weaker dollar is good for the US
Markets Update:
Asian markets traded lower on Thursday. The strengthening yen contributed to Nikkei’s underperformance. Korea was an exception, with KOSPI and won outperforming. Chinese market has been on the decline, the hawkish trade rhetoric from the White House not aiding it.
The weak dollar has been subjected to further pressure following Mnuchnin’s remarks. While metals have been trading higher, this has mostly been attributed to the weakened dollar.
Crude at fresh three-year highs after bullish DOE inventory data and supportive remarks by energy ministers at Davos. PBoC drained net CNY120B via OMOs while fixing yuan midpoint at strongest since Nov-2015.
Aside from dollar weakness, country/region dynamics have driven moves in non-USD currencies. Euro at more than three-year highs, as attention turns to ECB meeting tonight. Against the backdrop of euro strength, no policy change expected but language in guidance will be eyed.
Meanwhile, Kiwi dollar was under selling pressure after New Zealand inflation came in well short of expectations. S&P500 closed lower for first time in four days after swinging between gains and losses. While sentiment is still fairly upbeat, the weakening dollar poses a threat to multinational’s earnings.
Upcoming Events:
- 07:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German GfK Consumer Climate
- 08:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Spanish Unemployment Rate
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German Ifo Business Climate
- 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) High Street Lending
- 11:00 AM GMT – (GBP) CBI Realized Sales
- 12:45 PM GMT – (EUR) Minimum Bid Rate
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Core Retail Sales m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Retail Sales m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (EUR) ECB Press Conference
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Goods Trade Balance
- 02:00 PM GMT – (EUR) Belgian NBB Business Climate
- 03:00 PM GMT – (USD) New Home Sales
- 03:00 PM GMT – (USD) CB Leading Index m/m
- 03:30 PM GMT – (USD) Natural Gas Storage
- 11:30 PM GMT – (JPY) National Core CPI y/y
- 11:30 PM GMT – (JPY) Tokyo Core CPI y/y
- 11:50 PM GMT – (JPY) Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes
- 11:50 PM GMT – (JPY) SPPI y/y
- All day – WEF Annual Meetings
- &more…
