Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei down 0.03 %, Shanghai Composite rose 0.05 %, Hang Seng gained 0.98 %, ASX 200 up 0.20%
- Commodities: Gold at $1285.71 (-0.33 %), Silver at $17.20 (-0.30 %), WTI Oil at $51.46 (0.33 %), Brent Oil at $57.35 (0.21 %)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.35, UK 10-year yield at 1.28, German 10-year yield at 0.39
News & Data:
- (NZD) Credit Card Spending y/y 4.9 % vs 6.4 % previous
- (GBP) Retail Sales m/m -0.8 % vs -0.1 % expected
- (USD) Unemployment Claims 222K vs 240K expected
- (USD) Philly Fed Manufacturing Index 27.9 vs 21.9 expected
- (USD) CB Leading Index m/m -0.2 % vs 0.1 % expected
- (USD) Natural Gas Storage 51 B vs 59 B expected
- U.S. jobless claims hit 44-1/2-year low; mid-Atlantic factories humming
- Senate passes budget blueprint key to Trump tax effort
- Oil rises on tighter fundamentals, but China warning holds back market- RTRS
Markets Update:
Asia-Pacific equity markets lacked direction early on Friday following weakness in Europe and Wall street but rebounded as the session progressed. Treasuries fell and the dollar climbed after the latest developments in Washington raised the chances for American tax cuts. By a 51-to-49 vote, the Republican-controlled Senate voted for the budget measure, which would add up to $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade in order to pay for proposed tax cuts.
USDJPY had an active session early on Friday, the dollar gained close to 0.6 percent against the Yen moving up through 112.80 and continued climbing to highs of 113.30. The Dollar is on track to gain 1.2 percent for the week. Japan's Nikkei 225 was recently down 0.1% in danger of snapping 13-day streak of gain as the dollar rebounded against the Yen.
EURUSD is currently seen trading around 1.1815 down from session highs of 1.1858 as the Euro dropped 0.3 percent against the US Dollar. News out of Spain that Catalan separatists ask supporters to take cash out of banks on Friday morning might cause a bit of stir in early Europe The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies gained 0.2 percent and is currently valued at 93.46
AUDUSD dropped from around 0.7870 and is currently seen trading around 0.7845, as thee USD moved sharply higher across the board. The Aussie is down 0.4 % against the US Dollar. Likewise, the Kiwi continuing its downtrend fell below the round number 0.7000, The New Zealand dollar is currently seen trading around 0.6987 after creating fresh lows of 0.6971
Upcoming Events:
- 08:30 GMT – (GBP) Public Sector Net Borrowing
- 12:30 GMT – (CAD) CPI m/m
- 12:30 GMT – (CAD) Core Retail Sales m/m
- 12:30 GMT – (CAD) Common CPI y/y
- 12:30 GMT – (CAD) Median CPI y/y
- 12:30 GMT – (CAD) Retail Sales m/m
- 12:30 GMT – (CAD) Trimmed CPI y/y
- 14:00 GMT – (USD) Existing Home Sales
- 23:30 GMT – (USD) Fed Chair Yellen Speaks
