Monday 15th April: Asian markets rally ahead on optimism

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Global Markets:

  • Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 1.39%, Shanghai Composite up 1.02%, Hang Seng up 0.50%, ASX down 0.05%
  • Commodities : Gold at $1291.55 (-0.28%), Silver at $14.89 (-0.47%), Brent Oil at $71.38 (-0.24%), WTI Oil at $63.62 (-0.42%)
  • Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.558, UK 10-year yield at 1.214, Germany 10-year yield at 0.062

News & Data:

  • (USD) Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment 96.9 vs 98.1 expected
  • (CNY) Trade Balance 221B vs 2B expected
  • OECD: May Be Premature For BoJ To Focus On Details Of Exit Strategy
  • UK property market ‘in line for summer Brexit relief rally’
  • Trump, despite solid U.S. growth, says Fed should fire up crisis-era stimulus

CFTC Positioning Data:

  • EUR short 102K vs 99K short last week. Shorts increased by 3K
  • GBP short 7K vs 10K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 3K
  • JPY short 72K vs 63K short last week. Shorts increased by 9K
  • CHF short 28k vs 26k short last week. Shorts increased by 2K
  • AUD short 54k vs 56k short last week. Shorts trimmed by 2K
  • NZD short 1K vs 0K short last week. Shorts increased by 1K

Markets Update:

Asian stocks remained broadly higher on Monday as strong Chinese exports data released last week helped ease investor worries over slowing global growth. There is also optimism on the trade front after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday a U.S.-China trade agreement would go “way beyond” previous efforts to open China’s markets to U.S. companies.

Mnuchin told the media on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that he believed Washington and Beijing are getting close to the final round of concluding issues.

Mainland Chinese markets were higher, the Shanghai Composite was last trading higher by 1%, whereas the Shenzhen composite by 0.8%. The Hang Seng also joined in, trading 0.5% higher. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.4 percent. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.72 percent. Shares of Asiana Airlines and its affiliates soared in the morning session. Shares in Australia dipped as the benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.1 percent.

In currencies, the dollar index was 0.1 percent weaker at 96.863 against a basket of major currencies as demand for safe haven assets eased. It had slipped to a near three-week trough of 96.745 on Friday. The Euro was supported by encouraging data from the euro zone where industrial output in February declined by less than expected.

In commodities, oil provided big milestones last week, with Brent breaking through the $70 threshold and the U.S. benchmark posting six straight weeks of gains for the first time since early 2016.

Upcoming Events:

Monday, April 15, 2019

  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Evans Speaks
  • 03:30 PM GMT – (CAD) BOC Business Outlook Survey
  • 06:00 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Evans Speaks

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

  • 01:00 AM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Rosengren Speaks
  • 02:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes
  • 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Average Earnings Index 3m/y
  • 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Unemployment Rate
  • 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German ZEW Economic Sentiment
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Manufacturing Sales m/m
  • 11:45 PM GMT – (NZD) CPI q/q

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

  • 03:00 AM GMT – (CNY) GDP q/y
  • 03:00 AM GMT – (CNY) Fixed Asset Investment ytd/y
  • 03:00 AM GMT – (CNY) Industrial Production y/y
  • 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) CPI y/y
  • 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) PPI Input m/m
  • 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) RPI y/y
  • All Day – (All) OPEC Meetings
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) CPI m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Trade Balance
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Common CPI y/y
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Median CPI y/y
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Trimmed CPI y/y
  • 02:00 PM GMT – (GBP) BOE Gov Carney Speaks
  • 05:45 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Bullard Speaks

Thursday, April 18, 2019

  • 02:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Employment Change
  • 02:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Unemployment Rate
  • 08:15 AM GMT – (EUR) French Flash Services PMI
  • 08:15 AM GMT – (EUR) French Flash Manufacturing PMI
  • 08:30 AM GMT – (EUR) German Flash Manufacturing PMI
  • 08:30 AM GMT – (EUR) German Flash Services PMI
  • 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Flash Manufacturing PMI
  • 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Flash Services PMI
  • 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Retail Sales m/m
  • 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) BOE Credit Conditions Survey
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Core Retail Sales m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Retail Sales m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core Retail Sales m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Retail Sales m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Philly Fed Manufacturing Index

Friday, April 19, 2019

  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Building Permits
  • Tentative – (USD) Treasury Currency Report
  • &more…

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