Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei up 0.57 %, Shanghai Composite climbed 0.15 %, Hang Seng rose 0.10 %, ASX 200 gained 0.45 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1294.77 (-0.02 %), Silver at $16.84 (0.12 %), WTI Oil at $57.70 (-0.50 %), Brent Oil at $62.84 (-0.63 %)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.32, UK 10-year yield at 1.25, German 10-year yield at 0.34
News & Data:
- U.S. goods trade deficit widens in October, inventories fall
- (USD) CB Consumer Confidence 129.5 vs 123.9 expected
- (USD) Richmond Manufacturing Index 30 vs 14 expected
- (USD) HPI m/m 0.3 % vs 0.6 % expected
- (CAD) RMPI m/m 3.8% vs -0.2 % previous
- (EUR) M3 Money Supply y/y 5.0 % vs 5.1 % expected
- (EUR) Private loans y/y 2.7 % vs 2.8 % expected
- Bitcoin sees sudden, sharp spike after smashing through $10,000- CNBC
- Dollar cheered by tax cut progress- RTRS
Markets Update:
Asia-pacific equities markets were mixed early on Wednesday. Investors in Asia largely shrugged off North Korea’s latest missile launch in spite of the Intercontinental ballistic missile putting entire U.S. within range. The dollar was steady as U.S. tax cuts inched closer to reality. Bitcoin surpassed $10,000 for the first time, bringing this year’s price surge to more than 10-fold.
USDJPY was mostly unchanged for the session, currently the Yen is valued around 111.53 against the Dollar. Japanese stocks were stronger overall shrugging off the North Korea’s missile launch, with the Nikkei rising over 0.5% after an overnight pullback in the yen. Likewise, The Korean won rose 0.3 percent with no major reaction to the ICBM launch, the markets are preparing for a Bank of Korea rate decision on Thursday.
EURUSD had a rather quiet session on Wednesday trading within a tight 15 pip range, currently the EUR is trading net unchanged for the session around 1.1852 against the US Dollar. The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies was flat for the session and is currently valued at 93.18 after holding onto overnight gains after the Senate Budget Committee approved the Republican tax bill. The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.32 percent.
AUDUSD is currently seen trading around 0.7592 slightly higher from its session lows of 0.7582. Australia’s 10-year yield fell more than two basis points to 2.47 percent. Australian stocks were solid with the S&P/ASX 200 index up 0.45% helped by strength from the country’s major banks. Oil eased amid uncertainty over the outcome of OPEC talks and a surprise rise in crude inventories
Upcoming Events:
- ALL Day — OPEC Meetings
- 13:30 GMT – (USD) Prelim GDP q/q
- 14:00 GMT – (GBP) BOE Gov Carney Speaks
- 15:00 GMT – (USD) Fed Chair Yellen Testifies
- 15:00 GMT – (USD) Pending Home Sales m/m
- 15:30 GMT – (USD) Crude Oil Inventories
- & More…
