Global Markets:
Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.80%, Shanghai Composite down 1.12%, Hang Seng down 1.71%, ASX down 1.46%
Commodities : Gold at $1924.60 (-0.35%), Silver at $21.96 (+0.33%), Brent Oil at $73.97 (+0.38%), WTI Oil at $67.75 (+0.21%)
Rates : US 10-year yield at 3.513, UK 10-year yield at 3.369, Germany 10-year yield at 2.246
News & Data:
- (AUD) Unemployment Rate 3.50% vs 3.60% expected
- (AUD) Employment Change 64.6K vs 49.7K expected
- (AUD) MI Inflation Expectations 5.00% vs 5.10% previous
- (JPY) Trade Balance -1.19T vs -1.46T expected
- (JPY) Core Machinery Orders m/m 9.50% vs 1.50% expected
- (NZD) GDP q/q -0.60% vs -0.20% expected
- (USD) TIC Long-Term Purchases 31.9B vs 130.7B expected
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories 1.6M vs 1.3M expected
- (USD) NAHB Housing Market Index 44 vs 40 expected
- (USD) Business Inventories m/m -0.10% vs 0.00% expected
- (USD) Retail Sales m/m -0.40% vs -0.30% expected
- (USD) PPI m/m -0.10% vs 0.30% expected
- (USD) Empire State Manufacturing Index -24.6 vs -7.9 expected
- (USD) Core Retail Sales m/m -0.10% vs -0.10% expected
- (USD) Core PPI m/m 0.00% vs 0.40% expected
- (CAD) Housing Starts 244K vs 222K expected
- (EUR) German 30-y Bond Auction 2.32|1.1 vs 2.26|1.1 previous
- (EUR) Industrial Production m/m 0.70% vs 0.30% expected
- (EUR) Italian Quarterly Unemployment Rate 7.80% vs 7.80% expected
- (EUR) French Final CPI m/m 1.00% vs 0.90% expected
- (EUR) German WPI m/m 0.10% vs 0.30% expected
- (CNY) Unemployment Rate 5.60% vs 5.30% expected
- (CNY) Retail Sales y/y 3.50% vs 3.50% expected
- (CNY) Industrial Production y/y 2.40% vs 2.60% expected
- (CNY) Fixed Asset Investment ytd/y 5.50% vs 4.50% expected
Markets Update:
Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as investors fretted over the health of some major banks and the impact of rising inflation on global growth. The sell-off was triggered by news that Credit Suisse had to borrow billions of dollars to cover losses from its exposure to a hedge fund that collapsed last week. The Swiss bank also warned of a significant hit to its first-quarter earnings.
The turmoil in the banking sector added to the worries about higher inflation and tighter monetary policy that have weighed on markets since February. Investors are awaiting key data on consumer prices and central bank decisions from Europe and the US later this week.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 1.2%, extending its decline for the month to 3.5%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.6%, while China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.9%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 1.1%, while South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.9%.
Crude oil recovered some ground after falling for two consecutive days on concerns about oversupply and weak demand amid rising coronavirus cases in Europe and India.
Gold prices also bounced back from a two-week low as the US dollar weakened ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Thursday..
Upcoming Events:
- 12:00 am GMT – (AUD) MI Inflation Expectations
- 12:30 am GMT – (AUD) Employment Change
- 12:30 am GMT – (AUD) Unemployment Rate
- 12:30 am GMT – (AUD) RBA Bulletin
- 04:30 am GMT – (JPY) Revised Industrial Production m/m
- 08:00 am GMT – (CHF) SECO Economic Forecasts
- Tentative – (EUR) Spanish 10-y Bond Auction
- 12:30 pm GMT – (CAD) Wholesale Sales m/m
- 12:30 pm GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 12:30 pm GMT – (USD) Philly Fed Manufacturing Index
- 12:30 pm GMT – (USD) Building Permits
- 12:30 pm GMT – (USD) Housing Starts
- 12:30 pm GMT – (USD) Import Prices m/m
- 01:15 pm GMT – (EUR) Main Refinancing Rate
- 01:15 pm GMT – (EUR) Monetary Policy Statement
- 01:45 pm GMT – (EUR) ECB Press Conference
- 02:30 pm GMT – (USD) Natural Gas Storage
