Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.86%, Shanghai Composite down 0.21%, Hang Seng down 0.61%, ASX down 0.11%
- Commodities : Gold at $1274.25 (-0.20%), Silver at $14.91 (-0.21%), Brent Oil at $71.60 (-0.03%), WTI Oil at $63.77 (+0.02%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.570, UK 10-year yield at 1.235, Germany 10-year yield at 0.070
News & Data:
- (AUD) Unemployment Rate 5.00% vs 5.00% expected
- (AUD) Employment Change 25.7K vs 15.2K expected
- (CAD) Trimmed CPI y/y 2.10% vs 1.80% expected
- (CAD) Median CPI y/y 2.00% vs 1.80% expected
- (CAD) Common CPI y/y 1.80% vs 1.80% expected
- (CAD) Trade Balance -2.9B vs -3.5B expected
- (CAD) CPI m/m 0.70% vs 0.70% expected
- (GBP) RPI y/y 2.40% vs 2.60% expected
- (GBP) PPI Input m/m -0.20% vs 0.30% expected
- (GBP) CPI y/y 1.90% vs 2.00% expected
- No U.S. – UK trade deal if Good Friday Agreement undermined after Brexit: Nancy Pelosi
- China FX Regulator Spokesman: China’s Cross-Border Capital Flows Generally Stable In Q1
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Thursday following the modest losses overnight on Wall Street after a mixed batch of earnings news from big-name companies. Investors preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the Good Friday and Easter holidays.
The Australian market has pared initial gains and is now edging lower by 0.1%, despite the release of upbeat Australian jobs data for March. Investors are also digesting quarterly production results from major mining as well as oil companies. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.9 percent, with shares of conglomerate Softbank Group declining more than 2 percent. The Topix index also traded lower by 0.9 percent.
Mainland Chinese shares declined by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite slipping 0.2 percent and the Shenzhen component lower by about 0.3 percent. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong also shed 0.6 percent as Hong Kong-listed shares of China Construction Bank declined more than 1.6 percent.
In the currency market, the safe-haven yen was slightly up at 111.94 yen per dollar, but well within reach of a near four-month low of 112.17 brushed overnight. The 10-year German bund yield hit a one-month high of 0.102 percent overnight, in a sharp rebound from a 2-1/2-year low of minus 0.094 percent set late last month. The dollar index held steady at 97.033 after ending the previous session basically unchanged.
In commodity markets, oil prices were slightly lower as U.S. government data overnight showed inventories drew down less than an industry report had suggested on Tuesday.
Upcoming Events:
- 08:15 AM GMT – (EUR) French Flash Services PMI
- 08:15 AM GMT – (EUR) French Flash Manufacturing PMI
- 08:30 AM GMT – (EUR) German Flash Manufacturing PMI
- 08:30 AM GMT – (EUR) German Flash Services PMI
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Flash Manufacturing PMI
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Flash Services PMI
- 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Retail Sales m/m
- 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) BOE Credit Conditions Survey
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Core Retail Sales m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Retail Sales m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core Retail Sales m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Retail Sales m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Philly Fed Manufacturing Index
