Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.30%, Shanghai Composite down 0.79%, Hang Seng down 1.95%, ASX down 0.87%
- Commodities : Gold at $1198.00 (-0.09%), Silver at $14.16 (-0.18%), Brent Oil at $77.82 (-0.45%), WTI Oil at $69.34 (-0.76%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.902, UK 10-year yield at 1.431, Germany 10-year yield at 0.358
News & Data:
- (AUD) GDP q/q 0.90% vs 0.70% expected
- (NZD) GDT Price Index -0.70% vs -3.60% previous
- (USD) ISM Manufacturing PMI 61.3 vs 57.6 expected
- (GBP) Construction PMI 52.9 vs 54.9 expected
- Rate-Cut Bets Jump in New Zealand as Business Confidence Falls
- Bullard says Fed should hold off on raising rates
- Bank of Canada's Poloz set to hold rates, for now
Markets Update:
Stock markets fell in Asia on Wednesday and the safe-haven dollar hovered near a two-week high as heightened worries over international trade conflicts and emerging market weakness curbed investors’ appetite for riskier assets. News that South Africa has slipped into recession for the first time since 2009 added to the pressure on emerging markets currencies and stocks.
Japan's Nikkei 225 traded down by 0.3 percent, with its automakers in focus from concerns over the impact of a typhoon on their operations. South Korea's Kospi was also trading lower by 0.6 percent, with industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics falling by 1.25 percent. The Australian market is extending its losing streak to a fourth straight session.
Better-than-expected Australian GDP data failed to boost investor sentiment. Over in the Greater China region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.95 percent. The Shanghai composite was also lower by 0.8 percent and the Shenzhen composite was down by about 0.7 percent.
Wobbly emerging markets stocks and currencies, a key source of recent global market angst, faced their latest round of pressure with news that South Africa had slipped into recession and concerns brewing about inflation in Turkey. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was a touch lower at 95.359 but in close reach of a two-week high of 95.737 set on Tuesday.
The dollar had also drawn strength on Tuesday from upbeat U.S. indicators supporting the case for further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Crude oil prices fell, weighed by a stronger dollar which tends to burden non-U.S. buyers of dollar-denominated commodities. Oil prices partly reversed a strong jump from the previous day, as the impact of a tropical storm on U.S. Gulf coast production was not as strong as initially expected.
Upcoming Events:
- 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Services PMI
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Trade Balance
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Labor Productivity q/q
- 03:00 PM GMT – (CAD) BOC Rate Statement
- 03:00 PM GMT – (CAD) Overnight Rate
- &more…
