Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.10%, Shanghai Composite up 1.20%, Hang Seng up 0.14%, ASX up 0.30%
- Commodities : Gold at $1315.50 (+0.06%), Silver at $16.55 (+0.16%), WTI Oil at $75.59 (+0.96%), Brent Oil at $70.34 (+0.89%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.957, UK 10-year yield at 1.395, Germany 10-year yield at 0.540
News & Data:
- (AUD) NAB Business Confidence 10 vs 8 previous
- (CAD) Ivey PMI 71.5 vs 60.2 expected
- (USD) Unemployment Rate 3.90% vs 4.00% expected
- (USD) Non-Farm Employment Change 164K vs 190K expected
- (USD) Average Hourly Earnings m/m 0.10% vs 0.20% expected
- China vows to open up more futures markets as iron ore goes international
- Fed's Quarles says paying 'a lot' of attention to spread of machine learning in finance
CFTC Positioning Data (Week Ending May 1st, 2018)
- EUR long 121K vs 131K long last week.
- GBP long 26K vs 37K long last week.
- JPY short 1K vs 1K long last week.
- CHF short 19K vs 10K short last week.
- CAD short 28K vs 25K short last week.
- AUD short 7k vs 3K short last week.
- NZD long 17K vs 24K long last week.
Markets Update:
Asian markets are mostly higher today, as the US wages report on Friday implied a lowered risk of faster rate hikes by the Fed. However, geopolitical narratives, including those on China and Iran continue to pose a threat to the markets.
The ASX has been on the uptrend, as high commodities prices continue to drive miners. Banking continues to be mixed, as fallout from the commission’s enquiry is expected to continue. Japanese markets are mixed on a stronger yen, which weighed in on exporters.
Oil prices hit their highest in more than three years as global supplies remained tight and the market awaited news from Washington on possible new U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The recent run of solid U.S. economic news contrasts with a softer turn in European data and lifted the dollar to its highest for the year so far against the euro. It had less luck against the Japanese yen, in part because strains in emerging market currencies were supporting safe havens such as the yen.
Upcoming Events:
Monday, May 7th 2018
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) NAB Business Confidence
- 08:00 AM GMT – (CAD) Gov Council Member Lane Speaks
- 12:25 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Bostic Speaks
- 06:00 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Barkin Speaks
Tuesday, May 8th 2018
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Retail Sales m/m
- Tentative – (CNY) Trade Balance
- 03:00 AM GMT – (NZD) Inflation Expectations q/q
- 07:15 AM GMT – (USD) Fed Chair Powell Speaks
- 07:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Halifax HPI m/m
- 09:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Annual Budget Release
Wednesday, May 9th 2018
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Building Permits m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) PPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core PPI m/m
- 02:30 PM GMT – (USD) Crude Oil Inventories
- 09:00 PM GMT – (NZD) Official Cash Rate
- 09:00 PM GMT – (NZD) RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement
- 09:00 PM GMT – (NZD) RBNZ Rate Statement
- 10:00 PM GMT – (NZD) RBNZ Press Conference
Thursday, May 10th 2018
- 01:10 AM GMT – (NZD) RBNZ Gov Orr Speaks
- 01:30 AM GMT – (CNY) CPI y/y
- 01:30 AM GMT – (CNY) PPI y/y
- 08:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Manufacturing Production m/m
- 08:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Goods Trade Balance
- 11:00 AM GMT – (GBP) BOE Inflation Report
- 11:00 AM GMT – (GBP) MPC Official Bank Rate Votes
- 11:00 AM GMT – (GBP) Monetary Policy Summary
- 11:00 AM GMT – (GBP) Official Bank Rate
- 11:00 AM GMT – (GBP) Asset Purchase Facility
- 11:00 AM GMT – (GBP) MPC Asset Purchase Facility Votes
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) NHPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) CPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core CPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 10:30 PM GMT – (NZD) Business NZ Manufacturing Index
Friday, May 11th 2018
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Employment Change
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Unemployment Rate
- 01:10 PM GMT – (CAD) Gov Council Member Wilkins Speaks
- 01:15 PM GMT – (EUR) ECB President Draghi Speaks
- 02:00 PM GMT – (USD) Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment
