Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei up 0.10 %, Shanghai Composite gained 0.50 %, Hang Seng rose 0.65 %, ASX 200 fell 0.20 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1125 (+0.35 %), Silver at $17.59 (+0.60 %), WTI Oil at $54.00 (+0.30 %), Brent Oil at $57.00 (+0.30 %)
- Rates: US 10-year yield at 2.46, UK 10-year yield at 1.36, German 10-year yield at 0.41
News & Data:
- China Caixin Services PMI (Jan): 53.1 (prev 53.4)
- China Caixin Composite PMI (Jan): 52.2 (prev 53.5)
- Australia Retail Sales (MoM) Dec: -0.1% (est 0.3% prev 0.2%)
- Australia Retail Sales Ex-Inflation (QoQ) Q4: 0.9% (est 0.9% prev -0.1%)
- Australia Melbourne Institute Inflation (YoY) Jan: 2.1% (prev 1.8%)
- Australia Melbourne Institute Inflation (MoM) Jan: 0.6% (prev 0.5%)
- Japan Labour Cash Earnings (YoY) Dec: 0.1% (rev prev 0.5%)
- Japan Real Cash Earnings (YoY) Dec: -0.4% (rev prev 0.0%)
- PBoC Fixes USDCNY Reference Rate At 6.8606 (prev fix 6.8556 prev close 6.8727)
CFTC Positioning Data:
- EUR short 46K vs. 52K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 6K
- GBP short 62K vs. 66K short. Shorts trimmed 4K
- JPY short 58K vs. 67K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 9K
- CHF short 17K vs. 14K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 3K
- CAD long 3K vs. 3K long last week. Unchanged
- AUD long 12K vs 10K long last week. Longs increase by 2K
- NZD short 1K vs 10K short last week. Shorts trimmed by 9K
Markets Update:
The Dollar weakened in Asia. While the NFP number beat expectations, average hourly earnings came in below expectations, which lowered expectations of another Fed rate hike soon. Meanwhile, the Australian Dollar came under pressure as well, after retail sales disappointed. They declined 0.1 % month-on-month, while the market was looking for +0.3 % print.
Gold rose from $1219 to $1225 amid the Dollar weakness. However, it fell slightly in the mid-Asian session after risk sentiment improved somewhat. Most Asian stock indices finished the day with a gain.
Upcoming Events:
- 09:30 GMT – Euro Zone Sentix Investor Confidence
- 14:00 GMT – ECB President Draghi speaks
- 21:30 GMT – FOMC Member Harker speaks
The Week Ahead:
Tuesday, February 7th
- 02:00 GMT – New Zealand Inflation Expectations
- 03:30 GMT – RBA Rate Decision
- 03:30 GMT – RBA Statement
- 07:00 GMT – German Industrial Production
- 07:45 GMT – French Current Account
- 08:30 GMT – UK Halifax House Price Index
- 13:30 GMT – US Trade Balance
- 13:30 GMT – Canadian Trade Balance
- 15:00 GMT – US JOLTs Job Openings
- 15:00 GMT – Canadian Ivey PMI
- 16:35 GMT – German Bundesbank President Weidmann speaks
Wednesday, February 8th
- 13:15 GMT – Canadian Housing Starts
- 15:30 GMT – US Crude Oil Inventories
- 20:00 GMT – RBNZ Rate Decision
- 20:00 GMT – RBNZ Statement
- 21:00 GMT – RBNZ Governor Wheeler speaks
- 21:45 GMT – New Zealand Building Consents
Thursday, February 9th
- 00:00 GMT – Australian HIA New Home Sales
- 00:30 GMT – Australian NAB Business Confidence
- 06:45 GMT – Swiss Unemployment Rate
- 07:00 GMT – German Trade Balance
- 13:30 GMT – US Initial Jobless Claims
- 14:10 GMT – FOMC Member Bullard speaks
- 18:30 GMT – Bank of England Governor Carney speaks
Friday, February 10th
- 00:30 GMT – Australian Home Loans
- 02:00 GMT – Chinese Trade Balance
- 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
