Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei up 0.20 %, Shanghai Composite gained 0.70 %, Hang Seng rose 1.35 %, ASX 200 rallied 1.30 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1217 (+0.60 %), Silver at $16.78 (+1.60 %), WTI Oil at $48.70 (+0.95 %), Brent Oil at $49.35 (+0.90 %)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.32, UK 10-year yield at 1.42, German 10-year yield at 0.27
News & Data:
- Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence: 115.5 (prev. 118.2)
- Fitch affirms China at A+; outlook stable
- Major indexes hit records as post-election rally goes on – RTRS
- Asia stocks at one-week highs on U.S. gains; oil up – RTRS
- Trump says will quit Pacific trade deal on day one of presidency – RTRS
- Japan PM says TPP trade pact meaningless without U.S. – RTRS
- Oil prices rise in anticipation of planned OPEC-led production cut – RTRS
Markets Update:
Risk appetite has improved, and the US Dollar has retraced slightly. The Euro rose to a high of 1.0650 in the early Asian session, but ran into decent offers there and fell back to 1.0625. Selling interest remains high on rallies, and EUR/USD is struggling to bounce.
The Pound has been doing better, and rallied from 1.2320 to 1.25 yesterday. In Asia, it was consolidating in a 1.2480-1.2510 range. USD/JPY opened around 110.90 and is unchanged on the day. It saw a decline to 110.30 earlier in the session, after news about a strong earthquake near the Fukushima disaster site, but rallied back to 110.90 as the tsunami did not do much of a damage.
The commodity currencies benefited from the rise in risk appetite, and AUD/USD rallied from 0.7360 to 0.74 in Asia, while NZD/USD made it from 0.7060 to 0.7085. AUD/USD is facing key resistance at 0.7440/50, while NZD/USD will likely encounter it at 0.7110/20.
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