Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.07%, Shanghai Composite up 0.30%, Hang Seng down 0.47%, ASX up 0.19%
- Commodities : Gold at $1787.25 (+0.29%), Silver at $18.03 (-0.20%), Brent Oil at $42.19 (-1.03%), WTI Oil at $39.80 (-1.41%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.709, UK 10-year yield at 0.207, Germany 10-year yield at -0.408
News & Data:
- (NZD) Official Cash Rate 0.25% vs 0.25% expected
- (USD) Flash Manufacturing PMI 49.6 vs 50 expected
- (GBP) Flash Services PMI 47 vs 39.1 expected
- (GBP) Flash Manufacturing PMI 50.1 vs 45.2 expected
- Half of telecommuters in Japan work longer than before pandemic
- N Korea removing propaganda loudspeakers from the border area
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are mixed on Wednesday following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street on upbeat economic data and on hopes of more stimulus measures. Nevertheless, investors remained cautious due to a surge in the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S.
Mainland Chinese stocks were higher by their market close, with the Shanghai composite up 0.3% while the Shenzhen component gained 0.2%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was fractionally lower on the day while the Topix index shed 0.4%. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was 0.1%, as of its final hour of trading, as Tencent’s stock slipped 0.3% after earlier touching a new record high.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 96.628 after dropping from levels above 97 seen yesterday. Oil markets didn’t buy into the equity market rally overnight, perhaps with one eye the explosion of Covid-19 cases in its Southern States, and a worrying increase in the freshly reopened New Jersey.
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