Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 2.56%, Shanghai Composite up 0.83%, Hang Seng up 0.94%, ASX up 0.50%
- Commodities : Gold at $1730.50 (+0.27%), Silver at $15.79 (+1.26%), Brent Oil at $30.27 (+2.75%), WTI Oil at $24.70 (+4.88%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.635, UK 10-year yield at 0.233, Germany 10-year yield at -0.569
News & Data:
- (USD) Unemployment Claims 3169K vs 3000K expected
- (GBP) Official Bank Rate 0.10% vs 0.10% expected
- (GBP) MPC Official Bank Rate Votes 0-0-9 vs 0-0-9 expected
- Japan gov’t, ruling camp mull 2nd extra budget for FY 2020 over virus
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are higher on Friday following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street on upbeat corporate earnings results and continued optimism about easing COVID-19 restrictions. A continued decrease in the number of new jobless claims in the U.S. also boosted sentiment. Investors now look ahead to the release of the U.S. jobs data for the month of April later today. Employment is expected to plunge by about 22 million jobs in April, driving the unemployment rate up to 14.0 percent.
Mainland Chinese stocks rose on the day with the Shanghai composite up 0.8% while the Shenzhen composite gained 1.2%. The Australian market is advancing after two days of losses. The Reserve Bank of Australia on Friday released its statement on monetary policy, where it highlighted that global GDP is “expected to fall sharply in the first half of 2020.”. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.9%.
Bond markets were jolted this week, and the U.S. yield curve steepened after the U.S. Treasury Department said it would introduce a long-planned 20-year bond and expected to borrow $2.999 trillion in the second quarter. But yields fell from three-week highs on Thursday as investors digested the prospect of a surge in debt supply and as some saw a dim outlook for the economy as it emerges from virus lockdowns.
In currency trading, the dollar index falling 0.171% to 99.646 after hitting a two-week high on Thursday as some investors took profits ahead of the jobs report. Oil prices rose on hopes that easing lockdowns would boost demand.
Upcoming Events:
- 11:00 AM GMT – (EUR) ECB President Lagarde Speaks
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Employment Change
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Unemployment Rate
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Average Hourly Earnings m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Non-Farm Employment Change
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Rate