Entering into US session, Sterling is surprisingly the strongest one today. Much stronger than expected UK manufacturing PMI might be a positive factor for the Pound. But it should noted that the improvements could mainly reflect pre-Brexit stock-building. It could indeed be a major headwind moving forward. At the time same, the House Commons will hold a second session of indicative votes on Brexit today. Debate might center around options of customs union, single market or a combination. Also, there would be debates on confirmatory referendum. Prime Minister Theresa May could decide what she’d do next after having the results from the indicative votes.
Staying in the currency markets, Yen is the weakest one on global risk market rally. Stronger than expected manufacturing PMIs from China raised hope that the worst is over for the Chinese economy. However, such improvement is not seen elsewhere yet, including Eurozone, Japan and even Australia. The ISM manufacturing index from US to be released today needs to give more positive signs to secure investor confidence.
In Europe, currently:
- FTSE is up 0.71%.
- DAX is up 1.13%.
- CAC is up 0.76%.
- German 10-year yield is up 0.0332 at -0.035, staying negative.
Earlier in Asia:
- Nikkei rose 1.43%.
- Hong Kong HSI rose 1.76%.
- China Shanghai SSE rose 2.58%.
- Singapore Strait Times rose 1.17%.
- Japan 10-year JGB yield rose 0.0113 to -0.079.
