Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 1.34%, Shanghai Composite down 0.07%, Hang Seng down 0.09%, ASX down 0.97%
- Commodities : Gold at $1193.50 (+0.41%), Silver at $14.42 (+0.64%), Brent Oil at $84.33 (+0.50%), WTI Oil at $74.69 (+0.54%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 3.248, UK 10-year yield at 1.682, Germany 10-year yield at 0.548
News & Data:
- (AUD) NAB Business Confidence 6 vs 5 previous
- (JPY) Current Account 1.43T vs 1.52T expected
- (GBP) BRC Retail Sales Monitor y/y -0.20% vs 0.20% previous
- (EUR) Sentix Investor Confidence 11.4 vs 11.4 expected
- (EUR) German Industrial Production m/m -0.30% vs 0.40% expected
- (CHF) Unemployment Rate 2.50% vs 2.50% expected
- Italy's budget dilemma may complicate ECB's attempt to wind down QE
- IMF cuts world economic growth forecasts as import tariffs, emerging market issues bite
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Tuesday following the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street amid worries about the impact of rising interest rates, U.S.-China tensions and a slowing Chinese economy. Investors also digested news that the International Monetary Fund has cut its growth forecasts for the world economy, citing trade tensions. The IMF said the global economy is now projected to grow at 3.7 percent this year and next, down 0.2 percentage points from the prior forecast.
Japan's Nikkei fell 1.3 percent, hurt in part by a rise in the safe-harbor yen leading to broad based losses. Australia's ASX 200 was down 0.97 percent as the heavily weighted financial subindex fell 1.03 percent. Major banking names were lower, with Commonwealth Bank shares declining 0.94 percent. Chinese markets are trading flat, with the Shanghai Composite lower by 0.07 percent. The Hang Seng is also lower by 0.09%.
Yields on 10-year Treasury paper notched a new seven-year top on Tuesday at 3.252 percent. Treasuries have had a sort of safety net up to now as rising yields tend to dampen stocks and threaten the economic outlook, thus putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to go slow on policy tightening.
Yet recently the Fed has sounded so bullish on the economy and so hawkish on rates that the net has become frayed. Oil prices rose on Tuesday as more evidence emerged that crude exports from Iran, OPEC's third-largest producer, are declining in the run-up to the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions and as a hurricane moved across the Gulf of Mexico.
Upcoming Events:
- 03:35 PM GMT – (GBP) MPC Member Broadbent Speaks
- 07:00 PM GMT – (CAD) Gov Council Member Wilkins Speaks
- &more…
