ICMarket

Tuesday 31st July: European Open Briefing

Global Markets:

  • Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.13%, Shanghai Composite up 0.27%, Hang Seng down 0.45%, ASX up 0.22%
  • Commodities : Gold at $1220.50 (-0.07%), Silver at $15.50 (-0.24%), Brent Oil at $75.31 (-0.32%), WTI Oil at $69.84 (-0.41%)
  • Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.938, UK 10-year yield at 1.351, Germany 10-year yield at 0.443

News & Data:

  • (JPY) BOJ Policy Rate -0.10% vs -0.10% expected
  • (AUD) Building Approvals m/m 6.40% vs 1.10% expected
  • (NZD) ANZ Business Confidence -44.9 vs -39 previous
  • (CNY) Manufacturing PMI 51.2 vs 51.4 expected
  • (CNY) Non-Manufacturing PMI 54 vs 55 expected
  • (GBP) Net Lending to Individuals m/m 5.4B vs 5.3B expected
  • (EUR) Spanish Flash CPI y/y 2.20% vs 2.30% expected
  • (CHF) KOF Economic Barometer 101.1 vs 101.6 expected
  • (EUR) German Prelim CPI m/m 0.30% vs 0.40% expected

Markets Update:

Asian stock markets are mostly flat on Tuesday following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street amid weakness in tech stocks. Investors are cautious as they look ahead to the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision due later in the day amid speculation the central bank could tweak its massive asset-purchase program. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision is due on Wednesday.

The Nikkei 225 moved into positive territory on the back of the Bank of Japan's policy decision. The benchmark was last higher by 0.3 percent, with gains seen in miners, shippers and insurers. Utilities and other financials tracked lower.

The Australian market is edging lower after opening higher despite the weak cues from Wall Street. Investors are cautious as they look ahead to monetary policy decisions from major central banks this week. Meanwhile, the Kospi slipped 0.1 percent after trading both above and below the flat line, with gains seen in manufacturing sector plays. Chinese shares were little changed going in to the lunch break following the release of official manufacturing PMI that slightly missed expectations.

The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies, pared some its losses made in the last session to trade at 94.433. Most major currencies stuck to narrow trading ranges ahead of several central bank decisions. The British pound held at $1.3132, drifting away from a more than 10-month trough of $1.2955 touched earlier in July. The euro was flat at $1.1707 after two consecutive sessions of gains.

Upcoming Events:

  • 07:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German Retail Sales m/m
  • Tentative – (JPY) BOJ Press Conference
  • 08:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Spanish Flash GDP q/q
  • 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) CPI Flash Estimate y/y
  • 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Core CPI Flash Estimate y/y
  • 10:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Prelim Flash GDP q/q
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) GDP m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) RMPI m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core PCE Price Index m/m
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Employment Cost Index q/q
  • 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Personal Spending m/m
  • 02:45 PM GMT – (USD) Chicago PMI
  • 03:00 PM GMT – (USD) CB Consumer Confidence
  • 11:45 PM GMT – (NZD) Employment Change q/q
  • 11:45 PM GMT – (NZD) Unemployment Rate
  • &more…