Entering into US session, Yen is the strongest one for today followed by Swiss Franc. On the other hand, Australian Dollar leads other commodity currencies lower on risk aversion. The main theme for today is further evidence of slowdown in China. Trade balance data showed both imports and expects contracted in the fastest pace since 2016 in December.
On the other hand, Brexit is another major theme. Ahead of tomorrow’s vote in the parliament, UK Prime Minister Theresa May stepped her rhetorics. She warned that there are some MPs who wish to delay or even stop Brexit. And she urged MPs to vote to deliver what people decided in the referendum back in 2016. EU sent a “reassurance” letter to May today, pledging to work on a post-Brexti agreement by end of 2020 deadline to avoid triggering the backstop “in the most solemn manner”. But it’s unsure how such assurances could change the mind of those who already got a position. That is, those who believed no-deal Brexit is closest to what people want, and those who want no Brexit at all.
In European markets, currently:
- FTSE is down -0.86%
- DAX is down -0.59%
- CAC is down -0.72%
- German 10 year yield is down -0.0252 at 0.215
Earlier in Asia:
- Hong Kong HSI dropped -1.38%
- China Shanghai SSE dropped -0.71%
- Singapore Strait Times dropped -0.79%
- Japan was on holiday
