Monday 9th December: Asian markets flatline on mixed news

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Global Markets:

  • Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.33%, Shanghai Composite up 0.04%, Hang Seng down 0.05%, ASX up 0.34%
  • Commodities : Gold at $1465.75 (+0.04%), Silver at $16.64 (+0.25%), Brent Oil at $64.22 (-0.26%), WTI Oil at $58.94 (-0.44%)
  • Rates : US 10-year yield at 1.831, UK 10-year yield at 0.765, Germany 10-year yield at -0.289

News & Data:

  • (CNY) Trade Balance 274B vs 300B expected
  • (CNY) USD-Denominated Trade Balance 38.7B vs 44.5B expected
  • (USD) Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment 99.2 vs 97 expected
  • (USD) Unemployment Rate 3.50% vs 3.60% expected
  • (USD) Non-Farm Employment Change 266K vs 181K expected
  • (USD) Average Hourly Earnings m/m 0.20% vs 0.30% expected
  • (CAD) Unemployment Rate 5.90% vs 5.50% expected
  • (CAD) Employment Change -71.2K vs 10.0K expected
  • Japan service sector sentiment improves slightly in November: government
  • RBA and Government likely to lower their growth forecasts in wake of GDP report

CFTC Positioning Data:

  • EUR short 69K vs 61K short last week. Shorts increased by 8K
  • GBP short 30K vs 37K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 7K
  • JPY short 48K vs 40K short last week. Shorts increased by 8k
  • CHF short 22K vs 21K short last week. Shorts increased by 1K
  • AUD short 36k vs 45K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 9K
  • NZD short 27K vs 36K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 9K
  • CAD long 21k vs 20K long last week. Longs increased by 1K.

Markets Update:

Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Monday with modest gains following the positive cues from Wall Street Friday after the U.S. Labor Department’s closely-watched monthly jobs report showed much stronger than expected job growth in the month of November. Some of the markets in the region pared initial gains after data showed China’s exports declined in November for the fourth consecutive month. Doubts about whether a U.S.-China trade deal will be reached before additional tariffs on Chinese imports come into effect on December 15 also weighed on sentiment.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.3% as shares of index heavyweight and conglomerate Softbank Group gained more than 1% while the Topix index gained 0.4%. Mainland Chinese stocks were little changed by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite, Shenzhen component and Shenzhen composite all hovering around the flatline.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was largely flat, as protests in the city crossed a 6-month milestone. Demonstrators have been locked in a stalemate with the city’s embattled local government since early June. Shares in Australia also gained, with the S&P/ASX 200 up by 0.3%.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.711 after falling from levels above 98.1 last week. U.S. Treasury yields climbed on the strong employment report, with benchmark 10-year notes rising to 1.831%.

Sterling has been bolstered by expectations that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party will win an outright majority in the upcoming election on Thursday, thereby ending a hung parliament and political paralysis on Brexit.

Upcoming Events:

Monday, December 09, 2019

  • 10:05 PM GMT – (AUD) RBA Gov Lowe Speaks

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  • 12:30 AM GMT – (AUD) HPI q/q
  • 12:30 AM GMT – (AUD) NAB Business Confidence
  • 01:30 AM GMT – (CNY) CPI y/y
  • 02:45 AM GMT – (AUD) RBA Assist Gov Bullock Speaks
  • 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) GDP m/m
  • 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Manufacturing Production m/m
  • 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German ZEW Economic Sentiment
  • 06:01 PM GMT – (USD) 10-y Bond Auction
  • 11:30 PM GMT – (AUD) Westpac Consumer Sentiment

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

  • 01:30 AM GMT – (CNY) New Loans
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) CPI m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core CPI m/m
  • 03:30 PM GMT – (USD) Crude Oil Inventories
  • 07:00 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Economic Projections
  • 07:00 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Statement
  • 07:00 PM GMT – (USD) Federal Funds Rate
  • 07:30 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Press Conference

Thursday, December 12, 2019

  • 08:30 AM GMT – (CHF) SNB Monetary Policy Assessment
  • 08:30 AM GMT – (CHF) SNB Policy Rate
  • All Day – (GBP) Parliamentary Elections
  • 09:00 AM GMT – (CHF) SNB Press Conference
  • 12:45 PM GMT – (EUR) Main Refinancing Rate
  • 12:45 PM GMT – (EUR) Monetary Policy Statement
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (EUR) ECB Press Conference
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core PPI m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) PPI m/m
  • 05:30 PM GMT – (CAD) BOC Gov Poloz Speaks
  • 09:30 PM GMT – (NZD) Business NZ Manufacturing Index

Friday, December 13, 2019

  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core Retail Sales m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Retail Sales m/m

Saturday, December 14, 2019

  • Tentative – (USD) Treasury Currency Report
  • &more…