Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei lost 0.10 %, Shanghai Composite rose 0.44 %, Hang Seng rose 0.2 %, ASX up 0.1 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1293.46 (+ 0.82%), Silver at $17.12 (+ 1.09 %), WTI Oil at $46.89 (+0.24 %), Brent Oil at $50.52 (+0.51 %)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.3, UK 10-year yield at 1.10, German 10-year yield at 0.43
News & Data:
- AUD Employment Change 27.9 K vs 19.8 K expected
- AUD Unemployment Rate 5.6 % vs 5.6 % expected
- GBP Average Earnings Index 3 m/y 2.1 % vs 1.8 % expected
- GBP Claimant Count Change -4.2 K vs 3.2 K expected
- GBP Unemployment Rate 4.4 % vs 4.5 % expected
- USD Building Permits 1.22 M vs 1.25 M expected
- USD Crude Oil Inventories -8.9 M vs -3.0 M expected
- NZD PPI Input q/q 1.4 % vs 0.9 % expected
- Dollar on defensive after Fed minutes dampen rate hike prospects- RTRS
- U.S. talks tough on trade deficit as NAFTA discussions begin- RTRS
Markets Update:
Most of the Asian equity markets continued to rise on Thursday as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea continue to simmer down. It was a weaker dollar story in Asia today following on from the slides overnight.
AUD/USD added close to 0.2 percent to highs of 79.49 U.S. cents after the country added 27,900 jobs in July, beating expectations for an increase of 20,000. The currency had surged 1.3 percent after the Fed minutes sent the U.S. dollar lower.
USD/JPY lost over a 100 pips from the highs of 110.94. The Yen seemed to show some early signs of stability around the round number 110.00, but continued to drop again in Tokyo until 109.60, losing over 0.7 % in value since Wednesday.
EUR/USD rose 0.1 percent against the US Dollar to $1.17835, extending its 0.3 percent gain overnight, after the euro zone’s second-quarter growth was revised to 2.2 percent from a year earlier, from 2.1 percent previously.
Upcoming Events:
- 08:20 GMT – (AUD) RBA Assist Gov Ellis Speaks
- 08:30 GMT – (GBP) Retail Sales m/m
- 09:00 GMT – (EUR) Final CPI y/y
- 11:30 GMT – (EUR) ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts
- 12:30 GMT – (CAD) Manufacturing Sales m/m
- 12:30 GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 12:30 GMT – (USD) Philly Fed Manufacturing Index
