Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei up 0.50 %, Shanghai Composite gained 0.60 %, Hang Seng fell 0.85 %, ASX 200 rose 0.60 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1272 (+0.60 %), Silver at $17.24 (+0.90 %), WTI Oil at $44.45 (-0.50 %), Brent Oil at $45.35 (-0.40 %)
- Rates: US 10 year yield at 1.75, UK 10 year yield at 1.40, German 10 year yield at 0.12
News & Data:
- Australia Home Loans (Mar): -0.9 % (exp -1.5 %, prev 0.9 %)
- Australia Westpac Consumer Confidence Index (May): 103.2 (prev 95.1)
- Japan Official Reserve Assets (Apr): USD 1262.5bln (prev USD 1262.1bln)
- PBoC Fixes Yuan At 6.5209 (prev 6.5233)
- RBNZ's Wheeler: Not feasible to increase rates in the foreseeable future — BBG
- RBNZ Gov Wheeler: Concerned How Quickly House Prices Rising Outside Auckland — BBG
- REINZ report that median home price rose 7.7% in April on an annual basis: BBG
- Asian stocks turn lower on wary outlook; bonds firm – RTRS
- Oil dips on record U.S. inventories; Canada output to improve soon – RTRS
- U.S. job openings hit eight-month high, skills mismatch emerging – RTRS
Markets Update:
USD/JPY reversed some of its earlier gains overnight, as it fell from 109.40 to a low of 108.60. Bids in good size are reported at 108.50 and around the 108.00 level, while key technical support is seen at 106.60/65.
AUD/USD failed to reach the 0.74 level earlier and declined from 0.7390 to 0.7345. Meanwhile, NZD/USD rallied after comments from RBNZ Governor Wheeler, from 0.6750 to 0.6825. It retraced some of that move later in the session, as it fell back to 0.6780, but the NZD remained well bid overall.
EUR/USD and GBP/USD remain quiet given the lack of tier 1 data releases in the past two trading days. This might change today for the Pound, as we will get UK manufacturing & industrial production data at 09:30 BST. In Asia, EUR/USD traded 1.1370-90, while GBP/USD consolidated between 1.4437 and 1.4466.
Upcoming Events:
- 09:30 BST – UK Manufacturing Production
- 09:30 BST – UK Industrial Production
- 15:00 BST – UK NIESR GDP Estimate
- 15:30 BST – US Crude Oil Inventories
