Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.55%, Shanghai Composite up 0.73%, Hang Seng up 0.20%, ASX down 0.52%
- Commodities : Gold at $1327.10 (+0.22%), Silver at $16.29 (+0.23%), WTI Oil at $68.92 (+0.23%), Brent Oil at $64.64 (+0.40%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.775, UK 10-year yield at 1.369, Germany 10-year yield at
News & Data:
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories 1.6M vs 0.5M expected
- (USD) Final GDP q/q 2.90% vs 2.70% expected
- (CHF) Credit Suisse Economic Expectations 16.7 vs 25.8 previous
- Japan must avoid bilateral trade talks with U.S.: finance minister Taro Aso
- China’s Gao: Hopes US takes measures and resolve conflicts with China
- PBOC set the Yuan reference rate at 6.3046
Markets Update:
Asian markets had a mixed day today, mostly sagging, post the continued tech sell-off on Wall Street. The volumes are relatively thinner, as the markets wind down ahead of the long Easter weekend.
Iron ore prices have been volatile with a negative outlook, and hence miners have been trading lower, pulling along with them the ASX.
While the yen was lower against the dollar, it failed to pull up the Nikkei – which is now trading in the red. Retail sales were stronger than expected, but the takeaways have been mixed.
Chinese equities have been mixed, after US Trade Rep Lighthizer announced a 60-day review period for China tariffs. While China has reiterated that it does not want to indulge in a trade war, reports suggest that China is also lining up its arsenal with retaliatory measures.
The dollar was unable to maintain its gains, while the US 10 year Treasury yields barely recovered from the two month low of 2.743. Crude made some gains in today’s trade, after losing out yesterday following an unexpected increase in US crude inventory.
Upcoming Events:
- All Day GMT – (EUR) German Prelim CPI m/m
- 07:00 AM GMT – (CHF) KOF Economic Barometer
- 08:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Current Account
- 08:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Final GDP q/q
- 08:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Net Lending to Individuals m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) GDP m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) RMPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core PCE Price Index m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Personal Spending m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 01:45 PM GMT – (USD) Chicago PMI
- 02:00 PM GMT – (USD) Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment
