Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 4.41%, Shanghai Composite down 1.52%, Hang Seng down 3.72%, ASX down 7.36%
- Commodities : Gold at $1635.30 (-0.43%), Silver at $16.61 (-0.99%), Brent Oil at $34.34 (-4.05%), WTI Oil at $31.70 (-3.88%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.766, UK 10-year yield at 0.280, Germany 10-year yield at -0.784
News & Data:
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories 7.7M vs 2.0M expected
- (USD) Core CPI m/m 0.20% vs 0.20% expected
- (USD) CPI m/m 0.10% vs 0.00% expected
- (GBP) Manufacturing Production m/m 0.20% vs 0.20% expected
- (GBP) GDP m/m 0.00% vs 0.20% expected
- (CNY) New Loans 906B vs 1100B expected
- (GBP) Official Bank Rate 0.25% vs 0.75% previous
- (GBP) MPC Official Bank Rate Votes 0-9-0 vs 0-2-7 previous
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are tumbling on Thursday and U.S. stock futures extended losses after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic and as U.S. President Donald Trump’s address on the coronavirus failed to ease investors’ concerns about the economic impact of the outbreak.
Trump announced that all travel from Europe to the U.S. will be suspended for 30 days, in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Investors are worried that the travel ban will further add to the existing business disruptions.
Shares in Australia dropped, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 7.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also fell 3.9%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 4.4% while the Topix index fell 4.1%. Mainland Chinese stocks were lower by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite declining 1.5% and the Shenzhen component down around 2.3%.
The Japanese yen, often seen as a safe-haven currency, traded at 104.18 following an earlier high of 103.08. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 96.373 after an earlier high of 96.66.
In commodities, oil prices were hit by an intensifying price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, on top of fears of sharp slowdown in the global economy. Copper, seen as a gauge of global economic health because of its wide industrial use, fell to three-year lows.
Upcoming Events:
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core PPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) PPI m/m
- 12:45 PM GMT – (EUR) Main Refinancing Rate
- 12:45 PM GMT – (EUR) Monetary Policy Statement
- 01:30 PM GMT – (EUR) ECB Press Conference