Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei down 0.35 %, Shanghai Composite rose 0.05 %, Hang Seng up 0.49 %, ASX 200 rose 0.01 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1297.25.11 (-0.34 %), Silver at $16.88 (+0.01 %), WTI Oil at $52.16 (+0.54 %), Brent Oil at $58.13 (+0.36 %)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.24, UK 10-year yield at 1.33, German 10-year yield at 0.40
News & Data:
- (USD) CB Consumer Confidence 119.8 vs 119.9 expected
- (USD) New Home Sales 560 K vs 585 K expected
- (EUR) German Import Prices m/m 0.0 % vs 0.1 % expected
- (GBP) High Street Lending 41.8 K vs 41.7 K expected
- (RUB) GDP y/y 2.3 % vs 1.8 % previous
- Brent oil edges up, near 26-month high amid supply concerns
- U.S. consumer confidence falls; new home sales hit eight-month low.
- Fed's Yellen says gradual hikes should continue, despite weak inflation- RTRS
Markets Update:
Equity markets across most of the Asia-Pacific region rose on Wednesday as investors hoped for progress on major tax reform in the United States following comments from Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen about the prospect of higher interest rates. However, the Japanese stocks were lower ahead of interim dividend payments by many Japanese companies
USDJPY is currently seen trading around 112.35, earlier in the session price approached the 112.50 mark towards a 2-1/2 month high but couldn’t sustain the break above. Overall the Yen continues to drop against the USD continuing its 0.5 percent fall on Tuesday.
EURUSD continued to trade within a small range around 1.1780 closing onto more than one-month low as the Euro fell 0.5 percent against the US dollar mainly due to the anticipated political horse-trading in Germany before a new government could be formed. The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies rose 0.1 percent and is currently valued at 93.09 touching the highest in a month.
AUDUSD is currently seen trading at 0.7865, as the Aussie fell 0.6 percent against the US Dollar. Meanwhile the NZDUSD is seen trading around the round number 0.7200 after recovering from yesterday’s lows of around 0.7160. Gold was little changed at $1,297.09 after slumping 1.3 percent in Tuesday’s session.
Upcoming Events:
- 08:00 GMT – (EUR) M3 Money Supply y/y
- 12:30 GMT – (USD) Core Durable Goods Orders m/m
- 12:30 GMT – (USD) Durable Goods Orders m/m
- 14:00 GMT – (USD) Pending Home Sales m/m
- 14:30 GMT – (USD) Crude Oil Inventories
- 15:45 GMT – (CAD) BOC Gov Poloz Speaks
- 18:00 GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Brainard Speaks
- 20:00 GMT – (NZD) Official Cash Rate
- 20:00 GMT – (NZD) RBNZ Rate Statement
