Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.31%, Shanghai Composite down 0.04%, Hang Seng down 0.45%, ASX up 1.36%
- Commodities : Gold at $1293.55 (+0.74%), Silver at $15.67 (+0.15%), Brent Oil at $54.41 (-0.91%), WTI Oil at $45.72 (-1.76%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.619, UK 10-year yield at 1.219, Germany 10-year yield at 0.170
News & Data:
- (NZD) GDT Price Index 2.80% vs 1.70% previous
- (USD) Final Manufacturing PMI 53.8 vs 53.9 expected
- (CAD) Manufacturing PMI 53.6 vs 54.9 previous
- (GBP) Manufacturing PMI 54.2 vs 52.5 expected
- (EUR) Final Manufacturing PMI 51.4 vs 51.4 expected
- (EUR) German Final Manufacturing PMI 51.5 vs 51.5 expected
- (EUR) French Final Manufacturing PMI 49.7 vs 49.7 expected
- (EUR) Italian Manufacturing PMI 49.2 vs 48.5 expected
- (EUR) Spanish Manufacturing PMI 51.1 vs 52.4 expected
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Thursday and U.S. stock futures slipped after tech giant Apple Inc. lowered its first-quarter revenue outlook and also warned of weaker sales in China. Shares of Apple’s suppliers in Asia are declining, while higher commodity prices helped lift resources stocks.
South Korea’s Kospi fell nearly 0.2 percent as shares of Apple suppliers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped 1.8 percent and 3.96 percent, respectively. Over in the Greater China region, the Hang Seng index gave up earlier gains to trade 0.45 percent lower. The mainland Chinese markets, watched in relation to Beijing’s ongoing tariff fight with Washington, reversed earlier gains, to trade flat now.
The ASX 200 in Australia, however, rose more than 1.3 percent, with all the sectors seeing gains. The energy subindex rose more than 3 percent as shares of oil-related companies saw gains on the back of Wednesday’s strong rally in oil prices. Japan’s stock markets are closed for a holiday on Thursday.
Currency markets saw a wild spike in volatility in early Asian trade, with risk aversion pushing the yen sharply higher against the U.S. dollar, breaking key technical levels and triggering stop-loss sales of U.S. and Australian dollars.
Upcoming Events:
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Spanish Unemployment Change
- 09:30 AM GMT – (CHF) Manufacturing PMI
- 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) M3 Money Supply y/y
- 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Private Loans y/y
- 10:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Construction PMI
- Tentative – (EUR) Spanish 10-y Bond Auction
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Challenger Job Cuts y/y
- 02:15 PM GMT – (USD) ADP Non-Farm Employment Change
- 02:30 PM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 04:00 PM GMT – (USD) ISM Manufacturing PMI
- 04:00 PM GMT – (USD) ISM Manufacturing Prices
- &more…
