Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.07%, Shanghai Composite down 0.38%, Hang Seng down 0.27%, ASX down 0.23%
- Commodities : Gold at $1353.70 (-0.46%), Silver at $16.63 (-0.82%), WTI Oil at $72.17 (+0.15%), Brent Oil at $67.06 (+0.36%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.779, UK 10-year yield at 1.392, Germany 10-year yield at 0.499
News & Data:
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories 3.3M vs -0.6M expected
- (USD) Core CPI m/m 0.20% vs 0.20% expected
- (USD) CPI m/m -0.10% vs 0.00% expected
- (GBP) Goods Trade Balance -10.2B vs -12.0B expected
- (GBP) Manufacturing Production m/m -0.20% vs 0.20% expected
- BOJ Kuroda Keeps Econ, Inflation View Optimistic
- Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow: Tariffs might come before negotiations with China
- China to retaliate without doubt if US escalates disputes: Gao
Markets Update:
Asian stocks came under pressure on Thursday as the threat of imminent U.S. military action in Syria rattled investors and sent oil prices to their highest levels since late 2014 on concerns about supply. Hawkish takeaways from the FOMC minutes also added to the woes.
Chinese equites traded lower today. While Hang Seng opened in the green reacting to reports of Chinese economic reforms, it later crossed over to the red territory. Meanwhile, HKD touched the lower bound of the USD peg.
Shanghai Composite continues to slide. ASX is in the red, pulled down majorly by banking and industrials. Japanese indices are slightly lower today, with mining being the saving grace – continuing to rise on reports of a rare earths discovery.
While the yen was helped by the soured risk sentiment, it has given back some of its earlier gains, with the dollar index largely flat.
The Russian Rouble is in focus, after it stabilized post two days of selling. Crude continues to gain; however, Gold has corrected since an overnight rally.
Upcoming Events:
- 06:30 AM GMT – (GBP) MPC Member Broadbent Speaks
- 08:30 AM GMT – (GBP) BOE Credit Conditions Survey
- 11:30 AM GMT – (EUR) ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) NHPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 04:00 PM GMT – (EUR) German Buba President Weidmann Speaks
- 07:00 PM GMT – (GBP) BOE Gov Carney Speaks
- 10:30 PM GMT – (NZD) Business NZ Manufacturing Index
