Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.10%, Shanghai Composite down 0.08%, Hang Seng down 0.92%, ASX down 0.32%
- Commodities : Gold at $1210.00 (+0.41%), Silver at $14.53 (+0.33%), Brent Oil at $78.02 (0.00%), WTI Oil at $70.28 (+0.04%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.857, UK 10-year yield at 1.454, Germany 10-year yield at 0.347
News & Data:
- (CNY) Non-Manufacturing PMI 54.2 vs 53.8 expected
- (CNY) Manufacturing PMI 51.3 vs 51 expected
- (USD) Personal Spending m/m 0.40% vs 0.40% expected
- (USD) Core PCE Price Index m/m 0.20% vs 0.20% expected
- (CAD) GDP m/m 0.00% vs 0.10% expected
- (EUR) Spanish Flash CPI y/y 2.20% vs 2.20% expected
- (CHF) KOF Economic Barometer 100.3 vs 101.2 expected
- Growth worries rise as Japan's July factory output falls
- Canada trade minister: Possibility of U.S. trade deal Friday
- Bank of Korea holds rates on job woes, muted inflation
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Friday following the weak cues overnight from Wall Street after Bloomberg reported that U.S. President Donald Trump intends to move ahead with plans to impose tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. Trump has also threatened to pull the U.S. out of the World Trade Organization if the international trading group does not "shape up". In addition, the sell-off in emerging market currencies also dampened investor sentiment
The Nikkei 225 recovered from some of its earlier losses but still traded down by 0.1 percent in the morning as most sectors slipped. South Korea's Kospi was steady at 0.27% gain as industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics gained by around 1 percent. The Australian market is declining following the negative cues from Wall Street. Weak iron ore and gold prices also weighed on mining stocks. Over in the Greater China region, markets continued their downtrend from the past few days.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by roughly 0.9 percent in early hours trade. While the official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) on Friday showed growth in China’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly picked up in August after a two-month slide, that hardly improved the mood as investors expect more damages from the trade frictions down the road. The Shanghai composite recouped losses to trade lower by 0.08%.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, was at 94.667. The cautious mood helped lift the yen, which rose 0.6 percent on Thursday, its biggest daily rise in about six weeks. The euro traded flat at $1.1665, having shed 0.33 percent in the previous session. The common currency has recovered from a 13-1/2-month low of $1.1301 hit in mid-August but looks set to end the month little changed from end-July.
Emerging market currencies had less luck, with currencies relying on foreign capital to finance their current account deficit hit the hardest. The Argentinian peso, the world’s worst-performing currency this year due to the country’s poor economic health, fell 10 percent on the day, bringing its month-to-date losses to 27 percent.
Upcoming Events:
- 07:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German Retail Sales m/m
- 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) CPI Flash Estimate y/y
- 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Core CPI Flash Estimate y/y
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) RMPI m/m
- 02:45 PM GMT – (USD) Chicago PMI
