Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei down 0.29 %, Shanghai Composite up 0.11 %, Hang Seng gained 0.52 %, ASX rose 0.04 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1329.80 (0.54 %), Silver at $17.13 (1.00 %), WTI Oil at $63.39 (-0.64 %), Brent Oil at $69.08 (-0.26 %)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.546, UK 10-year yield at 1.316, German 10-year yield at 0.52
News & Data:
- (CNY) Trade Balance 362B vs 237B expected
- (JPY) Economy Watchers Sentiment 53.9 vs 55.2 expected
- (JPY) Bank Lending 2.5 % vs 2.7 % expected
- (USD) Federal Budget Balance –23.2B vs -34.5B expected
- (USD) Federal Budget Balance -23.2B vs -34.5B expected
- (USD) Natural Gas Storage –359B vs -318B expected
- (USD) Unemployment Claims 261K vs 246K expected
- (CAD) NHPI m/m 0.1% vs 0.2% expected
- (USD) PPI m/m -0.1% vs 0.2% expected
- (USD) Core CPI m/m –0.1% vs 0.2% expected
- The Chinese trade surplus with the US hit a record high in 2017
- Bitcoin Steadies; Still Heads for Weekly Slump as Scrutiny Rises
- Key Fed official slams U.S. tax cuts for imperilling economy- RTRS
Markets Update:
Most Asia-pacific Markets resumed their ascent on Friday after finishing slightly lower in the last two sessions. Markets clawed back slight gains tracking the strong lead from Wall Street mainly supported by U.S. earnings optimism and a rise in oil prices while the euro edged higher as the European Central Bank signalled an end to its massive stimulus. China’s custom-cleared trade data showed brisk growth in exports and imports in 2017.
USDJPY is mostly unchanged for the session and is currently seen trading around 112.25. Notably, The U.S. Dollar had slipped to a six-week low of 111.05 yen on Thursday as the Japanese currency rallied for the past three days after the Bank of Japan on Tuesday cut the size of ongoing purchases of government bonds for one bucket of longer-term debt. The stronger yen weighed on Japanese stocks as Nikkei 225 declined close to 0.30 Percent, with declines seen in major automakers and technology names.
EURUSD rose 0.1 percent for the session and is currently seen trading above 1.2045, this is in continuation to the EUR rallying 0.7 against the US Dollar on Thursday following ECB minutes signaled hawkish policy tone. The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies remained flat and is currently valued at 91.85. The yield on 10-year Treasuries was steady at 2.546 percent, up about seven basis points for the week.
AUDUSD is slightly lower for the session following a brief pop above 0.7900, which appeared to be something of a last gasp. Currently the Aussie dollar is valued at 0.7880 down 0.15 percent against the US Dollar. Australia’s 10-year yield rose about one basis point, to 2.75 percent. The Kiwi dollar followed a similar price action currently valued at 0.7250 after losing over 0.15 percent against the USD.
Upcoming Events:
- 07.45 GMT – (EUR) French Final CPI m/m
- 09.00 GMT – (EUR) Italian Industrial Production m/m
- 13.30 GMT – (USD) CPI m/m
- 13.30 GMT – (USD) CPI m/m
- 13.30 GMT – (USD) CPI m/m
- 13.30 GMT – (USD) Retail Sales m/m
- 16.30 GMT – (EUR) German Buba President Weidmann Speaks
- &more…
