Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Shanghai Composite gained 0.50 %, Hang Seng rose 0.20 %, ASX 200 up 0.90 %, Nikkei closed
- Commodities: Gold at $1174 (+0.10 %), Silver at $16.50 (-0.15 %), WTI Oil at $53.70 (-0.55 %), Brent Oil at $56.85 (-0.50 %)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.42, UK 10-year yield at 1.39, German 10-year yield at 0.30
News & Data:
- Australia Building Approvals (MoM) (Nov): 7.0% (est 4.50%, prev -12.60%)
- Australia Building Approvals (YoY) (Nov): -4.8% (est -5.70%, prev -24.90%)
- Australia AIG Performance of Construction (Dec): 47.0 (prev +0.7 to 46.6)
- China Foreign Exchange Reserves (Dec): $3.011bn (est $3.01bn, prev $3.052bn)
- Oil prices fall as Iranian crude tanker exports surge, U.S. adds more rigs – RTRS
- Dollar sits on payroll gains, needs new energy – RTRS
CFTC Positioning Data:
- EUR short 70K versus 69K short last week. Shorts increased by 1K
- GBP short 65K versus 57K short last week, Shorts increased by 8K
- JPY short 87K versus 87K short last week. No net change.
- CHF short 13K versus 10K short last week. Shorts increased by 3K
- CAD short 4K versus 2K short last week. Shorts increased by 2K
- AUD short 3K versus 2K short last week. Shorts increased by 1K
- NZD short 11K versus 11K short last week. No net change
Markets Update:
The US Dollar rose overnight, especially against the Yen and the British Pound. The currency received additional support from solid US employment data released on Friday, which helped it recover after two days of losses. Meanwhile, the Pound came under renewed pressure as the "hard Brexit" option seems increasing likely. GBP/USD opened around 1.2240 in Asia, down from 1.2280 at the Friday closed. It almost closed the gap in the early Asian session, but eventually resumed the decline and fell towards 1.22.
The Euro remained quiet and traded in a 1.0522-44 range in Asia. The commodity currencies rose slightly, but the topside was capped at 0.7330 in AUD/USD and 0.6975 in NZD/USD.
Upcoming Events:
- 07:00 GMT – German Trade Balance
- 07:00 GMT – German Industrial Production
- 08.30 GMT – UK Halifax House Price Index
- 09:30 GMT – Euro Zone Sentix Investor Confidence
- 10:00 GMT – Euro Zone Unemployment Rate
- 14:00 GMT – FOMC Member Rosengren speaks
- 17:45 GMT – FOMC Member Lockhart speaks
The Week Ahead:
Tuesday, January 10th
- 00:30 GMT – Australian Retail Sales
- 01:30 GMT – Chinese CPI
- 01:30 GMT – Chinese PPI
- 07:45 GMT – Swiss Unemployment Rate
- 13:15 GMT – Canadian Housing Starts
- 15:00 GMT – US JOLTs Job Openings
Wednesday, January 11th
- 05:00 GMT – Japanese Leading Index
- 09:30 GMT – UK Manufacturing Production
- 09:30 GMT – UK Industrial Production
- 09:30 GMT – UK Trade Balance
- 15:30 GMT – US Crude Oil Inventories
Thursday, January 12th
- 07:45 GMT – French CPI
- 09:00 GMT – Italian Industrial Production
- 10:00 GMT – Euro Zone Industrial Production
- 12:30 GMT – ECB Meeting Minutes
- 13:30 GMT – US Initial Jobless Claims
- 14:15 GMT – Bank of England Governor Carney speaks
- 17:30 GMT – FOMC Member Lockhart speaks
- 18:15 GMT – FOMC Member Bullard speaks
- 18:45 GMT – FOMC Member Kaplan speaks
Friday, January 13th
- 00:00 GMT – Fed Chair Yellen speaks
- 02:00 GMT – Chinese Trade Balance
- 13:30 GMT – US Retail Sales
- 15:00 GMT – US Michigan Consumer Sentiment
- 20:30 GMT – US CFTC Positioning Data
