Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.28%, Shanghai Composite down 0.23%, Hang Seng down 0.41%, ASX down 0.38%
- Commodities : Gold at $1691.30 (+0.17%), Silver at $15.14 (+0.80%), Brent Oil at $29.51 (-0.71%), WTI Oil at $23.99 (0.00%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.704, UK 10-year yield at 0.246, Germany 10-year yield at -0.496
News & Data:
- (GBP) Official Bank Rate 0.10% vs 0.10% expected
- (GBP) MPC Official Bank Rate Votes 0-0-9 vs 0-0-9 expected
- (CNY) USD-Denominated Trade Balance 45.3B vs 9.1B expected
- (CNY) Trade Balance 318B vs 82B expected
- (NZD) Inflation Expectations q/q 1.24% vs 1.93% previous
- (CNY) Caixin Services PMI 44.4 vs 50.1 expected
- (AUD) Trade Balance 10.60B vs 6.40B expected
- (USD) ADP Non-Farm Employment Change -20236K vs -20500K expected
Markets Update:
Asian shares pared early losses on Thursday after Chinese exports proved far stronger than even bulls had imagined, while U.S. bond investors were still daunted by the staggering amount of new debt set to be sold in coming weeks.
Beijing reported exports rose 3.5% in April on a year earlier, completely confounding expectations of a 15.1% fall and outweighing a 14.2% drop in imports. The surprise stoked speculation the Asian giant could recover from its coronavirus lockdown quicker than first thought and support global growth in the process.
Mainland Chinese stocks dipped on the day, with the Shanghai composite 0.2% lower. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.3% while the Topix index shed 0.3%. Shares in Australia slipped, with the S&P/ASX 200 closing 0.4% lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.4%. Markets in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were closed on Thursday for holidays.
Bond markets saw one of the largest shifts in a while after the U.S. Treasury said it would borrow an astonishing $2.999 trillion during the June quarter, five times larger than the previous single-quarter record. Yields on 30-year bonds jumped 7 basis points to 1.40%, the largest daily increase since mid-March.
In commodity markets, gold eased on expectations that supplies will grow as bullion refineries resume operations. Oil prices inched higher after a six-session streak of gains which saw Brent almost double since hitting a 21-year low in April.
Upcoming Events:
- 09:00 AM GMT – (GBP) BOE Gov Bailey Speaks
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 02:00 PM GMT – (EUR) ECB President Lagarde Speaks