Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.26%, Shanghai Composite up 0.51%, Hang Seng up 0.05%, ASX down 0.37%
- Commodities : Gold at $1280.75 (+0.28%), Silver at $15.00 (+0.58%), Brent Oil at $72.05 (+0.46%), WTI Oil at $64.53 (+0.75%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.599, UK 10-year yield at 1.222, Germany 10-year yield at 0.087
News & Data:
- (CNY) Industrial Production y/y 8.50% vs 5.60% expected
- (CNY) Fixed Asset Investment ytd/y 6.30% vs 6.30% expected
- (CNY) GDP q/y 6.40% vs 6.30% expected
- (NZD) CPI q/q 0.10% vs 0.30% expected
- (CAD) Manufacturing Sales m/m -0.20% vs -0.10% expected
- (EUR) German ZEW Economic Sentiment 3.1 vs 0.9 expected
- (GBP) Unemployment Rate 3.90% vs 3.90% expected
- (GBP) Average Earnings Index 3m/y 3.50% vs 3.50% expected
- Japan pushes Asian Development Bank to end China loans
- China Stats Bureau: Final consumption accounted for 65.1 pct of Q1 GDP growth
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are mixed on Wednesday despite the modest gains overnight on Wall Street and upbeat Chinese economic data that helped ease worries about a global economic slowdown. The National Bureau of Statistics said that China’s gross domestic product or GDP expanded 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2019 on a yearly basis, beating forecasts for an increase of 6.3 percent. In addition, China’s retail sales growth for March also beat expectations, while its fixed asset investment for the month rose in line with expectations.
Mainland Chinese shares were higher by the morning session’s end, with the Shanghai composite rising by 0.5 percent and the Shenzhen component adding about 1 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was fractionally higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.3 percent in afternoon trade, with shares of index heavyweight Fanuc rising more than 1 percent. Over in South Korea, the Kospi declined fractionally. Meanwhile, the ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.4 percent as almost all the sectors slipped.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.944 after seeing lows around 96.8 earlier this week. One currency on the move was the New Zealand dollar which sank as far as $0.6668 after annual consumer price inflation came in well below expectations at just 1.5 percent for the first quarter.
In commodity markets, the general improvement in risk sentiment saw spot gold slip to its lowest for the year so far and was last at $1280.75 per ounce. Oil prices were buoyed as fighting in Libya and falling Venezuelan and Iranian exports raised concerns over tightening global supply.
Upcoming Events:
- 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) CPI y/y
- 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) PPI Input m/m
- 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) RPI y/y
- All Day – (All) OPEC Meetings
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) CPI m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Trade Balance
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Common CPI y/y
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Median CPI y/y
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Trimmed CPI y/y
- 02:00 PM GMT – (GBP) BOE Gov Carney Speaks
- 05:45 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Bullard Speaks
