Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.11%, Shanghai Composite down 1.00%, Hang Seng down 0.78%, ASX up 0.19%
- Commodities : Gold at $1331.35 (+0.26%), Silver at $14.76 (+0.12%), Brent Oil at $60.84 (-0.72%), WTI Oil at $52.95 (-0.56%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.088, UK 10-year yield at 0.860, Germany 10-year yield at -0.209
News & Data:
- (AUD) Cash Rate 1.25% vs 1.25% expected
- (AUD) Current Account -2.9B vs -2.9B expected
- (AUD) Retail Sales m/m -0.10% vs 0.20% expected
- (USD) ISM Manufacturing PMI 52.1 vs 53 expected
- S. New Vehicle Sales Tick Upward in May
- Australia’s dismal April retail sales bolster case for rate cuts
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are mostly lower on Tuesday after the fall in tech stocks overnight on Wall Street following reports of antitrust investigations involving several big-name companies.
Lingering worries about escalating trade tensions and its impact on global economic growth also weighed on markets. The escalating global trade tensions led St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard to suggest that a reduction in interest rates “may be warranted soon.”
Mainland Chinese shares slipped by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite declining 1% and the Shenzhen component falling 1.5%. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was 0.1% lower in afternoon trade, with shares of index heavyweight Softbank Group dropping more than 3%. The Topix index traded flat. In South Korea, the Kospi was largely flat. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index shed 0.8% as shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent fell as much as 2%.
U.S. Treasury yields rose slightly on Tuesday but remained near recent lows. U.S. 10-year notes yielded 2.1021%, up from a U.S. close of 2.081%, having touched its lowest level since September 2017 on Monday.
The euro was 0.11% stronger at $1.1252, while the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was up 0.03% at 97.175. Crude prices whipsawed, resuming their declines after a brief bounce on mounting trade worries.
Upcoming Events:
- 05:00 AM GMT – (EUR) CPI Flash Estimate y/y
- 05:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Core CPI Flash Estimate y/y
- 05:30 AM GMT – (AUD) RBA Gov Lowe Speaks
- 08:30 AM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Williams Speaks
- 09:55 AM GMT – (USD) Fed Chair Powell Speaks
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