Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei down 0.22 %, Shanghai Composite up 0.21 %, Hang Seng gained 0.33 %, ASX 200 lost 0.64 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1310.10 (-0.27 %), Silver at $16.94 (-0.38 %), WTI Oil at $63.45 (+0.78 %), Brent Oil at $69.14 (+0.49%)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.56, UK 10-year yield at 1.27, German 10-year yield at 0.46
News & Data:
- (CNY) CPI y/y 1.8 % vs 1.9 % expected
- (CNY) PPI y/y 4.9 % vs 4.8 % expected
- (USD) JOLTS Job Openings 5.88 M vs 6.05 M expected
- (EUR) Unemployment Rate 8.7% vs 8.7 % expected
- (CAD) Housing Starts 217K vs 240 K expected
- (CHF) Retail sales y/y -0.2 % vs -2.5 % expected
- (CHF) Unemployment Rate 3.0 % vs 3.0 % expected
- (EUR) German Trade Balance 22.3 B vs 20.7 B expected
- (EUR) French Trade Balance -5.7 B vs -4.8 B expected
- Oil prices hit highest since 2014, but analysts warn of overheated market- RTRS
- Yields on 10-year Treasury notes stay near highest since March
Markets Update:
Most Asia-pacific Markets opened lower on Wednesday ending a big start to 2018 for global equities despite a solid lead from Wall Street overnight. Investors booked profits in high-tech shares while oil prices hit three-year highs due to production cuts and a fall in inventories. However, Hong Kong’s benchmark climbed to a 10-year high.
USDJPY is currently seen trading around 112.30 as the Yen gained 0.3 percent against the US Dollar, this is in continuation to rising 0.4 percent on Tuesday. The yen strengthened for a second day as the traders fixated on prospects for scaled-back debt purchases from the Bank of Japan. The Nikkei 225 declined 0.22 percent mainly due to the stronger Yen, despite broad gains across auto stocks and financial plays.
EURUSD traded lower following a pullback Tuesday and is currently valued at 1.1927 compared to $1.2028 at the end of last week, due to profit-taking following the common currency’s big gains late last year. The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies remained flat and is currently valued at 92.53. The yield on 10-year Treasuries remained at 2.56 percent after jumping seven basis points Tuesday to the highest since March.
AUDUSD was trading marginally lower for the session currently valued at 0.7811 as the AUD lost 0.15 percent against the US Dollar. Australia’s 10-year yield rose six basis points to 2.73 percent. The Kiwi Dollar is mostly unchanged for the session against the USD and is currently seen trading around 0.7160.
Upcoming Events:
- 09.30 GMT – (GBP) Manufacturing Production m/m
- 09.30 GMT – (GBP) Goods Trade Balance
- 09.30 GMT – (GBP) Construction Output m/m
- 09.30 GMT – (GBP) Industrial Production m/m
- 13.30 GMT – (CAD) Building Permits m/m
- 13.30 GMT – (USD) Import Prices nm/m
- 15.30 GMT – (USD) Crude Oil Inventoriess m/m
- &more…
