Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.37%, Shanghai Composite down 0.44%, Hang Seng up 0.77%, ASX down 0.39%
- Commodities : Gold at $1499.95 (+0.22%), Silver at $17.93 (+0.37%), Brent Oil at $60.37 (+0.22%), WTI Oil at $55.14 (+0.15%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 1.777, UK 10-year yield at 0.684, Germany 10-year yield at -0.362
News & Data:
- (CNY) Manufacturing PMI 49.3 vs 49.9 expected
- (AUD) Building Approvals m/m 7.60% vs 0.10% expected
- (NZD) ANZ Business Confidence -42.4 vs -53.5 previous
- (USD) Federal Funds Rate <1.75% vs <1.75% expected
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories 5.7M vs 0.5M expected
- (CAD) Overnight Rate 1.75% vs 1.75% expected
- (USD) Advance GDP Price Index q/q 1.70% vs 1.80% expected
- (USD) Advance GDP q/q 1.90% vs 1.60% expected
- (USD) ADP Non-Farm Employment Change 125K vs 125K expected
- (EUR) German Prelim CPI m/m 0.10% vs 0.00% expected
- China launches 5G mobile phone services
- Cancelling APEC summit will not affect the arrangements of China-US trade talks
- HSBC cuts Hong Kong prime rate for first time in 11 years
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are mixed on Thursday following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the third time this year, but hinted it may put further monetary policy easing on hold.
Investors also digested news that Chile has cancelled the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC summit scheduled to be held in Santiago in mid-November, citing violent protests across the country. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were due to meet at the summit to discuss and possibly sign phase one of a U.S.-China trade deal.
Mainland Chinese stocks shed earlier gains by the afternoon. The Shanghai composite slipped 0.4% and the Shenzhen component fell 0.6%. China reported Thursday that factory activity in the country contracted for the sixth straight month in October. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 49.3 for October. In September, the official manufacturing PMI was 49.8, according to the country’s statistics bureau. The 50 level for PMI readings separates expansion from contraction.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.4%, with shares of index heavyweight Softbank Group surging 3.8%. The Topix index recovered from its earlier slip to rise slightly. The Bank of Japan announced Thursday that it would be keeping monetary policy steady, but signaled in its forward guidance a readiness to cut rates if required. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.9%. Elsewhere, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia was down 0.4%, with the heavily weighted financial subindex down more than 1% as shares of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group tumbled more than 3% after the firm announced that its statutory profit after tax for the full year ended September 30 2019 had plunged 7% year-on-year.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell to 1.7785% in Asia on Thursday, while the two-year yield eased slightly to 1.6216%. The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies fell 0.34% to 97.318, extending declines from Wednesday.
In the energy market, oil futures erased loses and rose in Asia on Thursday after as a massive buildup in U.S. crude stock piles triggered a decline in futures on Wednesday.
Upcoming Events:
- 03:32 AM GMT – (JPY) BOJ Outlook Report
- 03:32 AM GMT – (JPY) Monetary Policy Statement
- 06:30 AM GMT – (JPY) BOJ Press Conference
- 08:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Spanish Flash GDP q/q
- 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) CPI Flash Estimate y/y
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) GDP m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) RMPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core PCE Price Index m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Employment Cost Index q/q
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Personal Spending m/m
- 01:45 PM GMT – (USD) Chicago PMI
- 03:30 PM GMT – (CHF) SNB Chairman Jordan Speaks
- &more…