Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 1.05%, Shanghai Composite down 0.02%, Hang Seng up 1.55%, ASX up 1.30%
- Commodities : Gold at $1708.95 (-0.29%), Silver at $15.83 (+0.34%), Brent Oil at $30.45 (-1.68%), WTI Oil at $24.32 (-1.70%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.704, UK 10-year yield at 0.265, Germany 10-year yield at -0.512
News & Data:
- (NZD) ANZ Business Confidence -45.6 vs -66.6 previous
- (USD) Unemployment Rate 14.70% vs 16.00% expected
- (USD) Non-Farm Employment Change -20500K vs -22000K expected
- (USD) Average Hourly Earnings m/m 4.70% vs 0.50% expected
- (CAD) Unemployment Rate 13.00% vs 18.00% expected
- (CAD) Employment Change -1993.8K vs -4000.0K expected
CFTC Positioning Data:
- EUR long 76K vs 80K long last week. Shorts trimmed by 4K
- GBP short 12K vs 7K short last week. Shorts increased by 5K
- JPY long 27K vs 32K long last week. Longs trimmed by 5K
- CHF long 8K vs 6K long last week. Longs increased by 2K
- AUD short 33k vs 38K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 5K
- NZD short 15K vs 14K short last week. Shorts increased by 1K
- CAD short 32k vs 29K short last week. Shorts increased by 3K.
Markets Update:
Asian markets are in positive territory on Monday following the rally on Wall Street Friday after a report released by the Labor Department showed U.S. non-farm employment plummeted in April, but was not as bad as expected. Optimism about an economic rebound as governments in more countries begin to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions also lifted the markets.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.1% after the government announced a second budget to ease COVID-19’s economic impact, including aid for companies struggling to pay rent and more subsidies for those hit by slowing sales.
Down Under, the ASX 200 rose 1.3%. The easing of coronavirus-induced restrictions in several Australian states also helped bolster sentiment. Mainland Chinese shares, on the other hand, were largely flat by the afternoon. The Shanghai composite traded flat while the Shenzhen composite dipped fractionally.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 99.747 after seeing levels above 100 last week. Oil prices opened about 1% lower as a persistent glut weighed on prices and the coronavirus pandemic eroded global oil demand, even as some governments began to ease lockdowns. The bond market certainly seems to think any recovery will be slow with two-year yields hitting record lows at 0.105% and Fed fund futures turning negative for the first time ever.
Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) NAB Business Confidence
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) CPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core CPI m/m
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Wage Price Index q/q
- 02:00 AM GMT – (NZD) Official Cash Rate
- 02:00 AM GMT – (NZD) RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement
- 02:00 AM GMT – (NZD) RBNZ Rate Statement
- Tentative – (NZD) RBNZ Press Conference
- 06:00 AM GMT – (GBP) Prelim GDP q/q
- 06:00 AM GMT – (GBP) GDP m/m
- 06:00 AM GMT – (GBP) Manufacturing Production m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core PPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) PPI m/m
- 01:00 PM GMT – (USD) Fed Chair Powell Speaks
Thursday, May 14, 2020
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Employment Change
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Unemployment Rate
- 02:00 AM GMT – (NZD) Annual Budget Release
- 10:30 AM GMT – (GBP) BOE Gov Bailey Speaks
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 02:00 PM GMT – (CAD) BOC Financial System Review
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) BOC Gov Poloz Speaks
Friday, May 15, 2020
- 02:00 AM GMT – (CNY) Fixed Asset Investment ytd/y
- 02:00 AM GMT – (CNY) Industrial Production y/y
- 06:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German Prelim GDP q/q
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core Retail Sales m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Retail Sales m/m
- 02:00 PM GMT – (USD) Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment