Friday 15th March: Asian markets higher as UK parliament votes to delay Brexit

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Global Markets:

  • Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.76%, Shanghai Composite up 0.99%, Hang Seng up 0.93%, ASX down 0.07%
  • Commodities : Gold at $1300.85 (+0.44%), Silver at $15.34 (+1.10%), Brent Oil at $67.36 (+0.19%), WTI Oil at $58.72 (+0.19%)
  • Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.621, UK 10-year yield at 1.225, Germany 10-year yield at 0.082

News & Data:

  • (NZD) Visitor Arrivals m/m -0.10% vs -2.70% previous
  • (NZD) Business NZ Manufacturing Index 53.7 vs 53 previous
  • (GBP) Parliament Brexit Vote Pass vs Pass expected
  • (USD) Natural Gas Storage -204B vs -211B expected
  • (USD) New Home Sales 607K vs 622K expected
  • (USD) Unemployment Claims 229K vs 225K expected
  • (USD) Import Prices m/m 0.60% vs 0.30% expected
  • (CAD) NHPI m/m -0.10% vs 0.00% expected
  • (GBP) 30-y Bond Auction 1.74|2.3 vs 1.91|2.4 previous
  • (EUR) French Final CPI m/m 0.00% vs 0.00% expected
  • (CHF) PPI m/m 0.20% vs -0.10% expected
  • (EUR) German Final CPI m/m 0.40% vs 0.50% expected
  • China’s premier says ‘strong measures’ needed to support economy

Markets Update:

Asian stocks were mostly higher on Friday after U.K. lawmakers overwhelmingly backed a government motion on Thursday to ask for a three-month delay for Britain’s departure from the European Union, helping ease worries over a disorderly Brexit.

The upside, however, remained limited amid a fresh flare up in U.S.-China trade concerns after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was in no rush to complete a trade pact with China.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.8 percent while the Topix index added 0.9 percent. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.9 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.9 percent. Chinese mainland shares also traded higher: The Shanghai composite was up 1 percent while the Shenzhen composite added 1.4 percent. Australia’s ASX 200 was near flat as the heavily weighted financial subindex fell 0.1 percent.

The dollar held gains having snapped its four-day losing streak to a group of six major peers. The dollar index was little changed at 96.738 after rising 0.25 percent on Thursday to bounce back from a nine-day trough of 96.385. The greenback rose as U.S. Treasury yields climbed from two-month lows marked earlier in the week, driven by corporate supply.

The yen showed little response to the Bank of Japan’s widely expected decision to keep interest rates unchanged. Not surprisingly, the central bank offered a bleaker assessment of exports and output, as global demand waned.

Upcoming Events:

  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Manufacturing Sales m/m
  • 03:00 PM GMT – (USD) Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment
  • &more…

 

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