Latest update April 24th, 2018 11:33 AM
Wednesday 18th May: European Open Briefing
Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei up 0.35 %, Shanghai Composite fell 1.70 %, Hang Seng declined 1.80 %, ASX 200 lost 0.40 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1275 (-0.10 %), Silver at $17.16 (-0.50 %), WTI Oil at $48.45 (+0.30 %), Brent Oil at $49.40 (+0.20 %)
- Rates: US 10 year yield at 1.77, UK 10 year yield at 1.37, German 10 year yield at 0.13
News & Data:
- Japan GDP SA (QoQ) Q1, P: 0.4% (exp 0.1% prev rev -0.4%)
- Japan Annualised GDP SA (QoQ) Q1, P: 1.7% (exp 0.3% prev rev -1.7%)
- Japan Private Consumption (QoQ) Q1, P: 0.5% (exp 0.2% prev rev -0.8%)
- Japan Business Spending (QoQ) Q1, P: -1.4% (exp -0.8% prev rev 1.2%)
- Australia Westpac Leading Index (MoM) Apr: 0.24% (prev rev -0.10%)
- Australia Wage Price Index (QoQ) Q1: 0.4% (exp 0.5% prev 0.5%)
- Australia Wage Price Index (YoY) Q1: 2.1% (exp 2.2% prev 2.2%)
- New Zealand PPI Input (QoQ) Q1: -1.0% (prev -1.2%)
- New Zealand PPI Output (QoQ) Q1: -0.2% (prev -0.8%)
- China House Prices (YoY) Apr: 6.2% (prev 4.9%)
- PBoC Fixes Yuan At 6.5216 (prev 6.5200)
- RBA Assistant Gov Debelle: Welcomes Increased Role Of Yuan In Global Markets — BBG
- Debelle: Limited Scope To Hedge Inhibits Greater Use Of Yuan – RTRS
- Revived U.S. rate hike views weigh on Asian shares; oil up – RTRS
- Oil prices remain near 2016 highs on global supply disruptions – RTRS
- Wall Street sells off amid Fed rate hike jitters – RTRS
Markets Update:
The US Dollar strengthened across the board in Asia following a higher than anticipated US CPI release yesterday. EUR/USD fell from 1.1315 to 1.1285, while GBP/USD reversed all of yesterday's gains and declined to 1.4430. While volatility has been subdued in most of the major currency pairs, price action in GBP/USD is highly likely to remain volatile as the Brexit vote is only a month away.
USD/JPY failed to break above 109.65 yesterday and fell back below 109.00 in the early Asian session. However, it ran into good demand around 108.80 and bounced from there, reaching 109.40 later in the session.
The commodity currencies came under pressure amid broad USD strength. AUD/USD declined from 0.7350 to 0.7280, while NZD/USD reached a low of 0.6780, roughly 60 pips lower from yesterday's high.
Upcoming Events:
- 09:30 BST – UK Claimant Count Change
- 09:30 BST – UK Average Earnings
- 09:30 BST – UK Unemployment Rate
- 10:00 BST – Euro Zone CPI
- 15:30 BST – US Crude Oil Inventories
- 19:00 BST – FOMC Meeting Minutes
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