Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.39%, Shanghai Composite down 0.28%, Hang Seng down 1.72%, ASX down 2.25%
- Commodities : Gold at $1669.85 (+1.28%), Silver at $18.66 (+0.72%), Brent Oil at $56.52 (-2.45%), WTI Oil at $52.13 (-2.34%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 1.473, UK 10-year yield at 0.590, Germany 10-year yield at -0.435
News & Data:
- (NZD) Core Retail Sales q/q 0.50% vs 0.90% expected
- (NZD) Retail Sales q/q 0.70% vs 0.80% expected
- (USD) Flash Manufacturing PMI 50.8 vs 51.5 expected
- (CAD) Retail Sales m/m 0.00% vs 0.10% expected
- (CAD) Core Retail Sales m/m 0.50% vs 0.40% expected
- (GBP) Flash Services PMI 53.3 vs 53.4 expected
- (GBP) Flash Manufacturing PMI 51.9 vs 49.7 expected
- (EUR) Flash Services PMI 52.8 vs 52.4 expected
- (EUR) Flash Manufacturing PMI 49.1 vs 47.4 expected
- (EUR) German Flash Services PMI 53.3 vs 53.9 expected
- (EUR) German Flash Manufacturing PMI 47.8 vs 44.8 expected
- (EUR) French Flash Manufacturing PMI 49.7 vs 50.8 expected
- (EUR) French Flash Services PMI 52.6 vs 51.4 expected
CFTC Positioning Data:
- EUR short 92K vs 86K short last week. Shorts increased by 6K
- GBP long 29K vs 21K long last week. Longs increased by 8K
- JPY short 27K vs 26K short last week. Shorts increased by 1k
- CHF long 2K vs 4K long last week. Longs decreased by 2K
- AUD short 38k vs 33K short last week. Shorts increased by 5K
- NZD short 12K vs 4K short last week. Shorts increased by 8K
- CAD long 8k vs 10K long last week. Longs decreased by 2K.
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets, led by South Korea, are in negative territory on Monday while safe-haven gold rose amid worries about a surge in the number of new coronavirus cases reported outside China and its impact on the global economy.
On Sunday, South Korea raised its coronavirus alert to the highest level after the number of new coronavirus cases in the country nearly tripled over the weekend to more than 600, while the death toll reached six. Italy and Iran have also confirmed an uptick in coronavirus infections.
Markets in Japan are closed on Monday for a holiday. Shares in mainland China were mixed by the afternoon. The Shanghai composite was down 0.3% while the Shenzhen component was up 1.2%. The Australian market is notably lower following the sell-off on Wall Street Friday, with the benchmark ASX lower by 2.3%. Weak local corporate earnings results also dampened investor sentiment.
The Kospi was down 3.1% in afternoon trade as shares of automaker Hyundai Motor plunged 3.9% while the Kosdaq fell 3.3%. Industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics announced Saturday that a coronavirus case had been confirmed at a mobile device factory complex in South Korea, resulting in the shutdown of the entire facility until Monday morning, according to Reuters.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 99.551 after seeing highs around 99.9 last week. In commodities, oil prices slid as investors fretted about crude demand being pinched by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, while leading producers appeared to be in no rush to curb output.
Upcoming Events:
Monday, February 24, 2020
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German Ifo Business Climate
- 06:30 PM GMT – (GBP) MPC Member Haldane Speaks
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
- 03:00 PM GMT – (USD) CB Consumer Confidence
- 03:00 PM GMT – (USD) Richmond Manufacturing Index
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
- 12:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Construction Work Done q/q
- 03:30 PM GMT – (USD) Crude Oil Inventories
Thursday, February 27, 2020
- 12:00 AM GMT – (NZD) ANZ Business Confidence
- 12:30 AM GMT – (AUD) Private Capital Expenditure q/q
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Current Account
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core Durable Goods Orders m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Durable Goods Orders m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Prelim GDP q/q
- 03:00 PM GMT – (USD) Pending Home Sales m/m
Friday, February 28, 2020
- All Day – (EUR) German Prelim CPI m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) GDP m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) RMPI m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core PCE Price Index m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Personal Spending m/m
- 02:45 PM GMT – (USD) Chicago PMI
Saturday, February 29, 2020
- 01:00 AM GMT – (CNY) Manufacturing PMI
- 01:00 AM GMT – (CNY) Non-Manufacturing PMI
- &more…