Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.79%, Shanghai Composite up 0.00%, Hang Seng down 0.10%, ASX up 0.42%
- Commodities : Gold at $1244.45 (+0.07%), Silver at $14.54 (+0.18%), Brent Oil at $59.48 (-0.97%), WTI Oil at $51.02 (-0.91%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.888, UK 10-year yield at 1.230, Germany 10-year yield at 0.240
News & Data:
- (JPY) Average Cash Earnings y/y 1.50% vs 1.00% expected
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories -7.3M vs -1.3M expected
- (USD) ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI 60.7 vs 59.1 expected
- (CAD) Trade Balance -1.2B vs -0.7B expected
- (USD) ADP Non-Farm Employment Change 179K vs 195K expected
- Soros Family Office Fined by Hong Kong Watchdog for Naked Short Selling
- BoJ Kuroda: See No Need To Ease Policy Further Now
Markets Update:
Asian shares fought to sustain the slimmest of recoveries on Friday amid speculation the Federal Reserve might be “one-and-done” with U.S. rate hikes, while oil fell anew as producers bickered over the details of an output cut. Shares in Asia were mostly higher but traded cautiously on Friday afternoon on the back of a report suggesting the U.S. Federal Reserve could consider a slower tempo of increasing interest rates than had been previously expected.
The hard-hit mainland Chinese markets were slightly higher by the end of the morning session, as the Shanghai composite saw fractional gains and the Shenzhen composite rose 0.117 percent. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong declined 0.12 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.79 percent in afternoon trade while the Topix index recovered from earlier losses to see gains of 0.61 percent. Over in South Korea, the Kospi gained almost 0.3 percent, with shares of chipmaker SK Hynix rising 1.67 percent. The ASX 200 in Australia rose 0.4 percent in afternoon trade, with almost sectors in positive territory.
Treasuries extended their blistering rally, driving 10-year yields down to a three-month trough at 2.8260 percent, before last trading at 2.89 percent. Yields on two-year notes fell a huge 10 basis points at one stage on Thursday and were last at 2.77 percent.
In commodity markets, gold firmed to near a five-month peak as the dollar eased and the threat of higher interest rates waned. Spot gold stood at $1,238.44 per ounce. Oil was less favored, however, falling further as OPEC delayed a decision on output cuts while awaiting support from non-OPEC heavyweight Russia. Cyber currency Bitcoin took a fresh spill to be down almost 20 percent for the week at $3,444.47.
Upcoming Events:
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Employment Change
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Unemployment Rate
- 12:00 AM GMT – (USD) Average Hourly Earnings m/m
- 12:00 AM GMT – (USD) Non-Farm Employment Change
- 12:00 AM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Rate
- 04:00 PM GMT – (USD) Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment
- 06:00 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Brainard Speaks
- &more…
