Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei rose 0.01 %, Shanghai Composite fell 0.22 %, Hang Seng climbed 0.73 %, ASX up 0.21 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1278.79 (- 0.05 %), Silver at $16.68 (- 0.16 %), WTI Oil at $47.78 (+0.48 %), Brent Oil at $51.11 (+0.61 %)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.26, UK 10-year yield at 1.08, German 10-year yield at 0.43
News & Data:
- AUD Wage Price Index q/q 0.5 % vs 0.5 % expected
- NZD GDT Price Index -0.4 % vs – 1.6 % previous
- USD Retails Sales m/m 0.6 % vs 0.3 % expected
- USD Core Retails Sales m/m 0.5 % vs 0.3 % expected
- GBP CPI y/y 2.6 % vs 2.7 % expected
- GBP PPI Input m/m 0.0 % vs 0.4 % expected
- CHF PPI m/m 0.0 % vs -0.1 % previous
Markets Update:
Asian equity markets continued to inch ahead today as global Markets are starting to settle down after a tumultuous few days spurred by heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea
AUD/USD broke its two-day decline and started moving a little higher on the session after the wages data came in as expected, Price moved in from lows under 0.7820 to around 0.7840 gaining over 0.2 % against the US Dollar
USD/JPY was little changed in Wednesday’s Asian session with price currently seen trading around it’s opening price of 110.65 per dollar. It is worth mentioning that the yen had taken an added blow from the easing in risk aversion and lost 1.4 % against the dollar yesterday.
EUR/USD was little changed in the Asian session today. The Euro had experienced another wave of selling on Tuesday, exacerbated by a broad-based advance in US retail sales falling to lows of 1.16872 before recovering some ground going into the US segment as price struck above the 1.17 handle
GBP/USD slumped heavily after UK inflation numbers came in below expected, losing over 100 pips breaching key support levels against the US dollar. The pound is currently seen trading at $1.2870, having shed over 1.0 % overnight.
Upcoming Events:
- 08:30 GMT – (GBP) Average Earnings Index 3m/y
- 08:30 GMT – (GBP) Claimant Count Change
- 08:30 GMT – (GBP) Unemployment Rate
- 09:00 GMT – (EUR) Flash GDP q/q
- 12:30 GMT – (CAD) Foreign Securities Purchases
- 12:30 GMT – (USD) Housing Starts
- 12:30 GMT – (USD) Building Permits
- 14:30 GMT – (USD) Crude Oil Inventories
- 18:00 GMT – (USD) FOMC Meeting Minutes
- 22:45 GMT – (NZD) PPI Input q/q
