Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 2.71%, Shanghai Composite up 0.25%, Hang Seng up 2.09%, ASX up 1.50%
- Commodities : Gold at $1738.25 (+0.15%), Silver at $15.34 (+0.47%), Brent Oil at $23.67 (-4.59%), WTI Oil at $14.70 (-13.22%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.618, UK 10-year yield at 0.285, Germany 10-year yield at -0.478
News & Data:
- (USD) Durable Goods Orders m/m -14.40% vs -12.00% expected
- (USD) Core Durable Goods Orders m/m -0.20% vs -6.10% expected
- (EUR) German ifo Business Climate 74.3 vs 79.8 expected
- (GBP) Retail Sales m/m -5.10% vs -4.50% expected
CFTC Positioning Data:
- EUR long 87K vs 87K long last week. Unchanged
- GBP short 1K vs 3K long last week. Longs trimmed by 4K
- JPY long 26K vs 22K long last week. Longs increased by 4K
- CHF long 5K vs 5K long last week. Unchanged
- AUD short 35k vs 36K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 1K
- NZD short 14K vs 15K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 1K
- CAD short 24k vs 24K short last week. Unchanged.
Markets Update:
Asian shares bounced on Monday as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced more stimulus steps to help cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus, but the recent weak run in the global oil price showed no signs of ending.
The Japanese central bank announced a series of measures on Monday to combat the hit on Japan’s economy as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. These included the increase in purchases of commercial paper and corporate bonds and further active buying of Japanese government bonds and treasury discount bills.
Mainland Chinese stocks were up on the day, with the Shanghai composite rising 0.25while the Shenzhen composite was fractionally higher. Japanese stocks led gains among the region’s major markets, the Nikkei 225 rose 2.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also jumped about 2.1%, as of its final hour of trading. Over in South Korea, the Kospi added 1.8%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also rose 1.5%
Bond markets remain well supported by the truly massive easing under way from major central banks, which has seen U.S. 10-year yields trade around 0.6% for a week or more. The dollar has been generally well bid thanks to its safe haven status as the world’s most liquid currency at times of stress, although moves have been relatively mild in recent weeks.
The dollar index touched a three-week high at 100.86 on Friday before easing back to 99.73 on Monday amid an improvement in risk appetite. Crude oil prices gained on Friday, but still ended the week with a big loss due to lingering worries about the outlook for energy demand.
Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
- 07:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Spanish Unemployment Rate
- 02:00 PM GMT – (USD) CB Consumer Confidence
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) CPI q/q
- 01:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Trimmed Mean CPI q/q
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Advance GDP q/q
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Advance GDP Price Index q/q
- 02:00 PM GMT – (USD) Pending Home Sales m/m
- 06:00 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Statement
- 06:00 PM GMT – (USD) Federal Funds Rate
- 06:30 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Press Conference
Thursday, April 30, 2020
- 01:00 AM GMT – (CNY) Manufacturing PMI
- 01:00 AM GMT – (CNY) Non-Manufacturing PMI
- 01:00 AM GMT – (NZD) ANZ Business Confidence
- 05:30 AM GMT – (EUR) French Flash GDP q/q
- 07:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Spanish Flash GDP q/q
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Prelim Flash GDP q/q
- 11:45 AM GMT – (EUR) Main Refinancing Rate
- 11:45 AM GMT – (EUR) Monetary Policy Statement
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) GDP m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (EUR) ECB Press Conference
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Personal Spending m/m
- 01:45 PM GMT – (USD) Chicago PMI
Friday, May 01, 2020
- 02:00 PM GMT – (USD) ISM Manufacturing PMI