Thursday 18th June: Asian markets fall as second wave fears continue to gather momentum.

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Global Markets:

  • Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.45%, Shanghai Composite up 0.12%, Hang Seng down 0.35%, ASX down 0.92%
  • Commodities : Gold at $1733.90 (-0.10%), Silver at $17.73 (-0.24%), Brent Oil at $40.66 (-0.12%), WTI Oil at $37.76 (-0.53%)
  • Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.715, UK 10-year yield at 0.175, Germany 10-year yield at -0.428

News & Data:

  • (AUD) Unemployment Rate 7.10% vs 6.90% expected
  • (AUD) Employment Change -227.7K vs -105.0K expected
  • (NZD) GDP q/q -1.60% vs -1.00% expected
  • (USD) Building Permits 1.22M vs 1.23M expected
  • (CAD) CPI m/m 0.30% vs 0.80% expected
  • G-7 Foreign Ministers Express “Grave Concern” over Hong Kong
  • Swiss National Bank maintains expansionary monetary policy

Markets Update:

Asian stock markets are in negative territory on Thursday following the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street and as the rising number of coronavirus cases in Beijing as well as several U.S. states dampened hopes of a quick economic recovery.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9%. Australia’s unemployment in May rose to 7.1% from a revised 6.4% in April, according to a Thursday release by the country’s Bureau of Statistics. That was the highest since October 2001, according to Reuters. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dipped 0.5while the Topix index declined 0.3%. South Korea’s Kospi also slipped 0.4%. Mainland Chinese stocks nudged higher on the day, with the Shanghai composite gaining 0.1% while the Shenzhen component added 0.6%.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 97.029 after rising from levels around 96.5 seen earlier in the trading week. Investors rushed to the safety of bonds, with the 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield falling 2 basis points to 0.710%.

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