Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.41%, Shanghai Composite down 0.17%, Hang Seng up 0.61%, ASX down 0.38%
- Commodities : Gold at $1226.40 (+0.07%), Silver at $15.53 (+0.06%), Brent Oil at $74.02 (+0.79%), WTI Oil at $68.81 (+0.42%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.938, UK 10-year yield at 1.276, Germany 10-year yield at 0.396
News & Data:
- (AUD) Trimmed Mean CPI q/q 0.50% vs 0.50% expected
- (AUD) CPI q/q 0.40% vs 0.50% expected
- (NZD) Trade Balance -113M vs 200M expected
- (EUR) Flash Services PMI 54.4 vs 55 expected
- (EUR) Flash Manufacturing PMI 55.1 vs 54.7 expected
- (EUR) German Flash Services PMI 54.4 vs 54.6 expected
- (EUR) German Flash Manufacturing PMI 57.3 vs 55.5 expected
- (EUR) French Flash Services PMI 55.3 vs 55.7 expected
- (EUR) French Flash Manufacturing PMI 53.1 vs 52.6 expected
- Hoping to avert an all-out trade war, the EU’s top official meets Trump in Washington
- Trump calls for quick NAFTA deal in letter to Mexico president-elect
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 6.8040 vs. 6.7891 previous
Markets Update:
Asian stocks rose modestly on Wednesday, supported by upbeat Wall Street earnings and hopes China’s government spending would boost growth but trade tensions remained in focus ahead of a meeting between the U.S. and European Commission presidents. Crude oil prices extended gains in Asian trades after rising overnight.
The Japanese market is rising following the mostly positive cues from Wall Street amid optimism about corporate earnings results and on a slightly weaker yen. The Australian market slipped into negative territory after opening higher. Gains by miners were more than offset by weakness in banking stocks. Mainland China stocks were narrowly mixed in the morning, with the Shanghai Composite lower by 0.17 percent after three consecutive sessions of gains while the smaller Shenzhen Composite moved higher by 0.09 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index climbed 0.61 percent to record more convincing gains as energy supported the benchmark.
In foreign exchange markets, the dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was little changed at 94.568, having edged up from a near two-week low of 94.207 but making little further headway as the rise in U.S. yields stalled. The yield shot up this week on speculation the Bank of Japan was edging closer to unwinding its aggressive monetary stimulus, following reports late last week that the central bank was holding preliminary discussions on possible changes to its monetary policy.
The Turkish lira was on the defensive, having sunk more than 3 percent against the dollar on Tuesday after the country's central bank unexpectedly left interest rates on hold. The central bank’s decision was in focus amid investors’ concern over its perceived lack of independence from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The president is seen wanting lower borrowing costs to fuel economic growth, although the central bank is tasked with combating inflationary pressure.
Upcoming Events:
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German Ifo Business Climate
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) M3 Money Supply y/y
- 03:30 PM GMT – (USD) Crude Oil Inventories
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