Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.12%, Shanghai Composite down 0.66%, Hang Seng down 0.20%, ASX up 0.20%
- Commodities : Gold at $1462.65 (+0.13%), Silver at $17.06 (+0.02%), Brent Oil at $62.76 (-0.40%), WTI Oil at $57.80 (-0.53%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 1.767, UK 10-year yield at 0.674, Germany 10-year yield at -0.371
News & Data:
- (AUD) Private Capital Expenditure q/q -0.20% vs 0.00% expected
- (NZD) ANZ Business Confidence -26.4 vs -42.4 previous
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories 1.6M vs -0.5M expected
- (USD) Personal Spending m/m 0.30% vs 0.30% expected
- (USD) Core PCE Price Index m/m 0.10% vs 0.20% expected
- (USD) Chicago PMI 46.3 vs 47.2 expected
- (USD) Prelim GDP q/q 2.10% vs 1.90% expected
- (USD) Durable Goods Orders m/m 0.60% vs -0.50% expected
- (USD) Core Durable Goods Orders m/m 0.60% vs 0.20% expected
- Trump signs Hong Kong bills; Beijing vows retaliation
- China’s Foreign Ministry says Summons U.S. Ambassador in China
- Iran says hundreds of banks were torched in ‘vast’ unrest plot
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are declining on Thursday with modest losses despite the positive cues from Wall Street, amid worries that tensions between the U.S. and China over Hong Kong may dampen the prospects for an interim trade deal.
Overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law congressional legislation backing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, despite strong objections by China.
Mainland Chinese stocks shed earlier gains to decline by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite 0.66% lower and the Shenzhen component slightly lower. Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba continued to see strong gains as they jumped 3.16% by the afternoon following their blockbuster debut on Tuesday, ahead of the broad market as the Hang Seng index dipped 0.2%. Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan was largely flat while the Topix index was 0.2% lower. South Korea’s Kospi also traded 0.4% lower. Meanwhile, shares in Australia advanced, with the ASX 200 0.2% higher.
The dollar and trade-exposed currencies were spurned for safe-havens such as the Japanese yen after Trump signed the Hong Kong bills into law.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.345 after touching highs above 98.4 yesterday. The British pound bobbed higher after a model for pollsters YouGov, which accurately predicted the 2017 election, said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on course to win a fat majority in parliament at the Dec. 12 election.
Upcoming Events:
- 06:45 AM GMT – (CHF) GDP q/q
- All Day – (EUR) German Prelim CPI m/m
- 08:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Spanish Flash CPI y/y
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) M3 Money Supply y/y
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Private Loans y/y
- Tentative – (EUR) Italian 10-y Bond Auction
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Current Account
- 09:45 PM GMT – (NZD) Building Consents m/m
- 11:30 PM GMT – (JPY) Tokyo Core CPI y/y
- 11:30 PM GMT – (JPY) Unemployment Rate
- 11:50 PM GMT – (JPY) Prelim Industrial Production m/m
- &more…