Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Shanghai Composite up 0.63%, Hang Seng up 1.28%, ASX down 0.42%
- Commodities : Gold at $1713.65 (+0.18%), Silver at $15.32 (+1.40%), Brent Oil at $30.96 (-0.03%), WTI Oil at $24.35 (-0.86%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.674, UK 10-year yield at 0.216, Germany 10-year yield at -0.565
News & Data:
- (NZD) Unemployment Rate 4.20% vs 4.40% expected
- (NZD) Employment Change q/q 0.70% vs -0.20% expected
- (USD) ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI 41.8 vs 37.5 expected
- (CAD) Trade Balance -1.4B vs -2.5B expected
- (GBP) Final Services PMI 13.4 vs 12.3 expected
Markets Update:
Asian shares extended gains on Wednesday, as investors saw China’s yuan fixing offering a modest olive branch to Washington amid a resurgence in trade tensions, while oil ended its winning streak on oversupply fears and weak demand.
China’s central bank set the yuan at a broadly neutral midpoint, analysts said, helping take the focus off the exchange rate, a typically contentious point in Sino-U.S. ties. That helped mainland stocks claw back initial losses on their first day of trade since breaking for a holiday last week.
Markets in Japan and Thailand were closed on Wednesday for holidays. Mainland Chinese stocks rose on the day, recovering from an earlier dip. The Shanghai composite was 0.6% higher while the Shenzhen composite gained 1.5%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.4%.
On the economic data front, Australia’s retail sales in March rose 8.5%, according to data released Wednesday by the country’s Bureau of Statistics. That was above expectations of a 8.2% increase from a Reuters poll. South Korea’s KOSPI was up 1.8% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.3%.
Crude oil futures extended gains to a fifth straight session as prices rose sharply on Tuesday amid slightly easing worries about energy demand after several countries eased shutdown restrictions. The risk-sensitive Aussie and kiwi were up on the greenback, holding above 64 cents and 60 cents, respectively. The pound was steady at $1.2431. The dollar index was flat at 99.818.
Upcoming Events:
- 12:15 PM GMT – (USD) ADP Non-Farm Employment Change