Wednesday 11th December: Asian shares mixed are tariff deadline nears

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Global Markets:

  • Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.14%, Shanghai Composite up 0.14%, Hang Seng up 0.72%, ASX up 0.68%
  • Commodities : Gold at $1467.95 (-0.01%), Silver at $16.66 (-0.27%), Brent Oil at $63.95 (-0.61%), WTI Oil at $58.94 (-0.51%)
  • Rates : US 10-year yield at 1.836, UK 10-year yield at 0.796, Germany 10-year yield at -0.297

News & Data:

  • (AUD) Westpac Consumer Sentiment -1.90% vs 4.50% previous
  • (USD) 10-y Bond Auction 1.84|2.4 vs 1.81|2.5 previous
  • (EUR) German ZEW Economic Sentiment 10.7 vs 1.1 expected
  • (GBP) Manufacturing Production m/m 0.20% vs 0.10% expected
  • (GBP) GDP m/m 0.00% vs 0.10% expected
  • (CNY) New Loans 1390B vs 1200B expected

Markets Update:

Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Wednesday despite the modest losses overnight from Wall Street. However, gains are modest in most markets lingering uncertainty about a U.S.-China trade deal before additional American tariffs on Chinese goods are set to kick in on December 15.

Investors are also looking ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision due later in the day. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, although investors will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

Mainland Chinese stocks were mixed by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite up 0.1%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1% in afternoon trade while the Topix index declined 0.3%. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.4% higher. Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose about 0.7%.

Among currencies, the dollar nursed overnight losses against the euro after German economic sentiment sharply rose after an unexpected rebound in October exports. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which moves inversely to price, last stood a little higher at 1.836%.

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