Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.12%, Shanghai Composite down 0.02%, Hang Seng down 0.12%, ASX down 0.32%
- Commodities : Gold at $1210.30 (+0.17%), Silver at $14.36 (+0.56%), Brent Oil at $79.65 (+0.31%), WTI Oil at $71.19 (+0.59%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 3.065, UK 10-year yield at 1.613, Germany 10-year yield at 0.488
News & Data:
- (NZD) GDP q/q 1.00% vs 0.80% expected
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories -2.1M vs -2.7M expected
- (USD) Housing Starts 1.28M vs 1.24M expected
- (USD) Building Permits 1.23M vs 1.31M expected
- (GBP) RPI y/y 3.50% vs 3.20% expected
- (GBP) PPI Input m/m 0.50% vs 0.40% expected
- (GBP) CPI y/y 2.70% vs 2.40% expected
- China said to plan broad import tax cut as soon as October – Bloomberg
- US dollar near 7-week low as markets look past trade woes, pound eyes EU summit
Markets Update:
Asian stocks are trading flat, after following global indexes to open higher on Thursday, as investors took a less bearish view on the impact of the U.S.-China trade war on markets, a sharp contrast to dim expectations economists had on U.S. growth amid the worsening tensions. Higher copper and oil prices boosted resources stocks. Investors also digested comments by Alibaba's founder and chairman Jack Ma the Chinese e-commerce giant no longer plans to create one million jobs in the U.S., citing the ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and China as the reason.
The Japanese market is flat in choppy trading following the mostly positive cues overnight from Wall Street amid easing worries about the U.S.-China trade war, even as a stronger yen weighed on exporters' shares. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.95 percent as blue chip stocks traded mixed. Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor were up 2.2 percent and 2 percent, respectively, while, Posco fell 0.7 percent.
Chinese mainland markets traded lower: The Shanghai composite was flat and the Shenzhen composite fell 0.16 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded down 0.1%.The Australian market slipped into negative territory after opening higher. Weakness in banks and oil stocks offset gains by miners. Investors also digested weak corporate earnings results.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which on Wednesday touched its highest level since May 18, was at 3.0626 percent Thursday, compared with its U.S. close of 3.083 percent. This week’s rise in yields comes ahead of what is expected to be a hawkish meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve next week. The two-year yield, which is sensitive to market expectations of Fed rate hikes, was at 2.7907 percent compared with a U.S. close of 2.807 percent Wednesday.
Upcoming Events:
- 08:30 AM GMT – (CHF) SNB Monetary Policy Assessment
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- 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Retail Sales m/m
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