Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.67%, Shanghai Composite up 0.09%, Hang Seng up 0.13%, ASX up 1.00%
- Commodities : Gold at $1240.55 (-0.07%), Silver at $14.63 (-0.07%), Brent Oil at $60.36 (+0.13%), WTI Oil at $51.65 (+0.35%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.895, UK 10-year yield at 1.254, Germany 10-year yield at 0.261
News & Data:
- (USD) Retail Sales m/m 0.20% vs 0.10% expected
- (USD) Core Retail Sales m/m 0.20% vs 0.20% expected
- (EUR) Flash Services PMI 51.4 vs 53.4 expected
- (EUR) Flash Manufacturing PMI 51.4 vs 51.9 expected
- (EUR) German Flash Services PMI 52.5 vs 53.4 expected
- (EUR) German Flash Manufacturing PMI 51.5 vs 51.8 expected
- (EUR) French Flash Services PMI 49.6 vs 54.8 expected
- (EUR) French Flash Manufacturing PMI 49.7 vs 50.7 expected
CFTC Positioning Data:
- EUR short 56K vs 61K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 5K
- GBP short 42K vs 40K short last week. Shorts increased by 2K
- JPY short 98K vs 110K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 12K
- CHF short 18K vs 20K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 2K
- CAD short 12k vs 13k short last week. Shorts increased by 1K
- AUD short 46k vs 51k short last week. Shorts trimmed by 5K
- NZD short 15K vs 21K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 6K
Markets Update:
Asian share markets began the week on a cautious note after soft economic data from China and Europe added to evidence of cooling global growth and reinforced anxiety over the broadening impact of international trade frictions.
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision is due on Wednesday, while the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England will announce their monetary policy decisions on Thursday.
The mainland Chinese markets remained cautious by the end of the morning session after the country reported lower than expected economic datalast Friday. The Shanghai composite was largely flat while the Shenzhen composite declined by 0.36 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was near flat.
The Japanese market is modestly higher despite the sell off on Wall Street and a stronger yen. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.67 percent while the Topix index saw gains of 0.23 percent. The Australian market recovered after a weak start and is higher by 1%. Gains by mining stocks were offset by weakness in banks and oil stocks.
In the currency market, the dollar held firm after having touched a 19-month high against a basket of six other major rivals on Friday as the U.S. economy appeared to be in better shape than others. Against that backdrop, the U.S. Federal Reserve is seen as almost certain to raise interest rates at its two-day policy meeting starting on Tuesday, further enhancing the dollar’s yield attraction. At the same time, many market players also expect the Fed to lower its projections for future interest rate hikes given increasing headwinds to the economy. Oil prices licked wounds after Friday’s falls on concerns about the global economy.
Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
- 01:00 AM GMT – (NZD) ANZ Business Confidence
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes
- 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German Ifo Business Climate
- 02:30 PM GMT – (USD) Building Permits
- 02:30 PM GMT – (USD) Housing Starts
- 09:00 PM GMT – (NZD) Westpac Consumer Sentiment
- 10:45 PM GMT – (NZD) Current Account
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
- 10:30 AM GMT – (GBP) CPI y/y
- 10:30 AM GMT – (GBP) PPI Input m/m
- 10:30 AM GMT – (GBP) RPI y/y
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) CPI m/m
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Common CPI y/y
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Median CPI y/y
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Trimmed CPI y/y
- 08:00 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Economic Projections
- 08:00 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Statement
- 08:00 PM GMT – (USD) Federal Funds Rate
- 08:30 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Press Conference
- 10:45 PM GMT – (NZD) GDP q/q
- 10:45 PM GMT – (NZD) Trade Balance
Thursday, December 20, 2018
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Employment Change
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Unemployment Rate
- Tentative – (JPY) BOJ Policy Rate
- Tentative – (JPY) Monetary Policy Statement
- Tentative – (JPY) BOJ Press Conference
- 10:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Retail Sales m/m
- 01:00 PM GMT – (GBP) MPC Official Bank Rate Votes
- 01:00 PM GMT – (GBP) Monetary Policy Summary
- 01:00 PM GMT – (GBP) Official Bank Rate
Friday, December 21, 2018
- 10:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Current Account
- 10:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Final GDP q/q
- 10:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Public Sector Net Borrowing
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Core Retail Sales m/m
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) GDP m/m
- 02:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Retail Sales m/m
- 02:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core Durable Goods Orders m/m
- 02:30 PM GMT – (USD) Final GDP q/q
- 02:30 PM GMT – (USD) Durable Goods Orders m/m
- 04:00 PM GMT – (CAD) BOC Business Outlook Survey
- 04:00 PM GMT – (USD) Core PCE Price Index m/m
- 04:00 PM GMT – (USD) Personal Spending m/m
- 04:00 PM GMT – (USD) Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment
- &more...
