Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei up 2.35 %, Shanghai Composite rose 0.45 %, Hang Seng gained 1.00 %, ASX 100 lost 0.90 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1225 (-0.90 %), Silver at $17.58 (-0.90 %), WTI Oil at $53.10 (+0.15 %), Brent Oil at $55.70 (+0.10 %)
- Rates: US 10 year yield at 2.41, UK 10 year yield at 1.25, German 10 year yield at 0.31
News & Data:
- China Trade Balance (Jan): USD 51.4 Bln (est USD 47.9 Bln prev USD 40.8 Bln)
- China Exports USD (YoY) Jan: 7.9% (est 3.3% prev -6.1%)
- China Imports USD (YoY) Jan: 16.7% (est 10.0% prev 3.1%)
- Japan PPI (YoY) Jan: 0.5% (est 0.0% prev -1.2%)
- Japan PPI (MoM) Jan: 0.6% (est 0.2% rev prev 0.7%)
- Australia Home Loans (MoM) Dec: 0.4% (est 1.0% rev prev 1.3%)
- RBA Cuts GDP Forecast For June 2017 By 1% To 1.5-2.5%, 2018 Unchanged At 2.5-3.5%, June 2019 2.75-3.75%
- RBA Forecasts Underlying Inflation At 1.75% June 2017, 1.5-2.5% Out To Dec 2018, 2-3% By June 2019
- RBA: Economy Unlikely To Grow Fast Enough To Pull Jobless Rate Down
- RBA: GDP Growth Looks To Have Rebounded In Q4, Weakness In Q3 Was Temp
- PBoC Fixes USDCNY Reference Rate At 6.8819 (prev fix 6.8710 prev close 6.8675)
Markets Update:
Risk appetite improved after US President Donald Trump announced big tax cuts yesterday. He did not reveal any details, but his comments were enough for US stock markets to rally. Asian markets picked up the positive sentiment, with almost all major indices up on the day.
In FX, USD/JPY benefited the most from it. The pair rallied to a high of 113.80, up almost 200 pips from yesterday’s low. Resistance is now seen at 114.00, but there is not much until 115.40 should we break above it. Support is now noted at 113 and 112.60.
Most other major currencies declined against the Dollar. EUR/USD fell from 1.07 to 1.0660, while GBP/USD traded as low as 1.2490 in Asia, down 90 pips from yesterday’s high. Gold also lost its appeal and declined more than $10 per ounce overnight.
Upcoming Events:
- 07:45 GMT – French Industrial Production
- 09:00 GMT – Italian Industrial Production
- 09:30 GMT – UK Trade Balance
- 09:30 GMT – UK Industrial Production
- 09:30 GMT – UK Manufacturing Production
- 13:30 GMT – US Employment Change
- 13:30 GMT – US Unemployment Rate
- 15:00 GMT – UK NIESR GDP Estimate
- 15:00 GMT – US Michigan Consumer Sentiment
