Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei down 0.04%, Shanghai Composite down 1.19%, Hang Seng down 0.51%, ASX up 0.42%
- Commodities: Gold at $1346.50 (-0.41%), Silver at $17.37 (-0.38%), WTI Oil at $66.30 (+0.21 %), Brent Oil at $70.01 (-0.20%)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.697, UK 10-year yield at 1.446, German 10-year yield at 0.632
News & Data:
- (CNY) CB Leading Index m/m 1.7% vs 1.9% previous
- (CAD) Core CPI m/m -0.5% vs -0.1% previous
- (USD) Prelim Wholesale Inventories m/m 0.2% vs 0.4% expected
- (USD) Goods Trade Balance -71.6B vs -68.6B expected
- (USD) Durable Goods Orders m/m 2.9% vs 0.9% expected
- (USD) Advance GDP Price Index q/q 2.4% vs 2.3% expected
- (USD) Core Durable Goods Orders m/m 0.6% vs 0.5% expected
- (USD) Advance GDP q/q 2.6% vs 3.0% expected
- (CAD) Trimmed CPI y/y 1.9% vs 1.8% previous
- (CAD) Median CPI y/y 1.9% vs 1.9% previous
- (CAD) Common CPI y/y 1.6% vs 1.5% previous
- (CAD) CPI m/m -0.4% vs -0.3% expected
- (GBP) Index of Services 3m/3m 0.4% vs 0.4% expected
- (GBP) Prelim GDP q/q 0.5% vs 0.4% expected
- (EUR) Private Loans y/y 2.8% vs 2.9% expected
- (EUR) M3 Money Supply y/y 4.6% vs 4.9% expected
- Tanker carrying liquefied natural gas from Russia's Arctic arrives in Boston
- About 20% of FTSE 350 companies faced 'significant' shareholder dissent in 2017
- House of Lords EU subcommittee urges financial services clarity following Brexit
CFTC Positioning Data (Week Ending January 23, 2018)
- EUR long 145K vs 139K long last week. Longs increased by 6K
- GBP long 33K vs 26K long last week. Longs increased by 7K
- JPY short 123K vs 119K short last week. Shorts decreased by 4K
- CHF short 22K vs 21K short last week. Shorts increased by 1K
- CAD long 23K vs 18K long last week. Longs increased by 5K.
- AUD long 17K vs 10K long last week. Longs increase by 7K
- NZD short 1K vs 8K short last week. Shorts decreased by 7K
Markets Update:
Asian markets opened bullish thanks to strong US lead, before losing steam later in the day. Financials were seen to lift benchmarks across Hong Kong, Sydney and Japan. Positive comments from the Trump administration at Davos helped the dollar recover from last week’s turbulence. However, the markets seem to remain comfortable to maintain a longer term soft USD bias. Data released Friday showed December consumer prices in Japan were stable.
The core consumer price index increased 0.9 percent in December compared to one year ago, a figure that was in line with expectations. Meanwhile, data from China released earlier showed profits made by industrial companies in the country grew 10.8 percent last month compared to one year ago.
The Dollar Index was mostly flat today, trading above the 89 level. The Ozzie dollar has slipped to trade below critical $0.81, after rising as high as $.8118 earlier. The move lower in the Australian currency came as yields on U.S. Treasury notes edged up.
The yield on the 10-year government note last stood at 2.68 percent after touching a high of 2.69 percent earlier in the day, with the volatility here to stay. The ECB’s meeting on Friday kept the rates as is, while markets were expecting a more dovish stance, thus leading to continued strength the Euro.
Crude oil steadied in the morning trade, after Brent touched a three year high last week. A rise above 71.35 is necessary to keep the momentum steady.
Upcoming Events:
- 07:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German Import Prices m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core PCE Price Index m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Personal Spending m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Personal Income m/m
- 09:45 PM GMT – (NZD) Trade Balance
- 11:30 PM GMT – (JPY) Household Spending y/y
- 11:30 PM GMT – (JPY) Unemployment Rate
- 11:50 PM GMT – (JPY) Retail Sales y/y
- &more…
