Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 1.57%, Shanghai Composite up 0.42%, Hang Seng up 0.85%, ASX up 0.33%
- Commodities : Gold at $1345.60 (-0.29%), Silver at $16.75 (-0.25%), WTI Oil at $72.18 (+0.84%), Brent Oil at $67.12 (+0.90%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.840, UK 10-year yield at 1.430, Germany 10-year yield at 0.506
News & Data:
- (NZD) GDT Price Index 2.70% vs -0.60% previous
- (USD) Industrial Production m/m 0.50% vs 0.30% expected
- (USD) Capacity Utilization Rate 78.00% vs 77.90% expected
- (USD) Housing Starts 1.32M vs 1.27M expected
- (USD) Building Permits 1.35M vs 1.33M expected
- (CAD) Manufacturing Sales m/m 1.90% vs 1.00% expected
- (CAD) Foreign Securities Purchases 3.96B vs 7.24B expected
- (EUR) German ZEW Economic Sentiment -8.2 vs -0.8 expected
- (GBP) Unemployment Rate 4.20% vs 4.30% expected
- (GBP) Claimant Count Change 11.6K vs 13.3K expected
- (GBP) Average Earnings Index 3m/y 2.80% vs 3.00% expected
- Trump's energy adviser Michael Catanzaro, fossil fuel champion, steps down
- Japan logs 2.46 tril. yen trade surplus in FY 2017 on strong exports
- Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong-un over Easter – report
Markets Update:
Asian equities traded higher today, following the gains on Wall Street, backed by upbeat corporate earnings. However, China continues to lag, given the trade tensions with the US.
Nikkei made significant gains, with investors waiting for any developments on trade as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort. A weaker yen also helped the market make gains.
Chinese markets also struggled even as Beijing boosted liquidity in the banking system. China's central bank lowered the reserve requirement ratio for most commercial banks on Tuesday, thus improving liquidity.
The Australian market is modestly higher, following the overnight gains on Wall Street and as investors digested first-quarter production results from mining giant Rio Tinto as well as oil major Woodside Petroleum. Gains by mining and oil stocks offset weakness in shares of banks.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 107 yen-range on Wednesday. Gold was slightly lower, and crude firmed up its position.
Upcoming Events:
- 08:30 AM GMT – (GBP) CPI y/y
- 08:30 AM GMT – (GBP) PPI Input m/m
- 08:30 AM GMT – (GBP) RPI y/y
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Final CPI y/y
- 02:00 PM GMT – (CAD) BOC Monetary Policy Report
- 02:00 PM GMT – (CAD) BOC Rate Statement
- 02:00 PM GMT – (CAD) Overnight Rate
- 02:30 PM GMT – (USD) Crude Oil Inventories
- 03:15 PM GMT – (CAD) BOC Press Conference
- 07:15 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Dudley Speaks
- 08:15 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Quarles Speaks
- 10:45 PM GMT – (NZD) CPI q/q
