Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.63%, Shanghai Composite down 0.22%, Hang Seng down 0.63%, ASX up 0.05%
- Commodities : Gold at $1821.65 (+0.17%), Silver at $20.16 (+0.06%), Brent Oil at $82.54 (-0.15%), WTI Oil at $76.51 (-0.20%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 3.995, UK 10-year yield at 3.833, Germany 10-year yield at 2.685
News & Data:
- (EUR) French Final Private Payrolls q/q 0.20% vs 0.00% expected
- (JPY) Prelim Machine Tool Orders y/y -10.70% vs -9.70% previous
- (CNY) PPI y/y -1.40% vs -1.30% expected
- (CNY) CPI y/y 1.00% vs 1.90% expected
- (GBP) RICS House Price Balance -48.00% vs -48.00% expected
- (JPY) M2 Money Stock y/y 2.60% vs 2.80% expected
- (JPY) Final GDP q/q 0.00% vs 0.20% expected
- (JPY) Final GDP Price Index y/y 1.20% vs 1.10% expected
- (USD) 10-y Bond Auction 3.99|2.4 vs 3.61|2.7 previous
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories -1.7M vs 1.3M expected
- (USD) JOLTS Job Openings 10.82M vs 10.58M expected
- (CAD) Overnight Rate 4.50% vs 4.50% expected
- (USD) Trade Balance -68.3B vs -68.7B expected
- (CAD) Trade Balance 1.9B vs -0.1B expected
- (USD) ADP Non-Farm Employment Change 242K vs 197K expected
- (EUR) Revised GDP q/q 0.00% vs 0.00% expected
- (EUR) Final Employment Change q/q 0.30% vs 0.40% expected
- (EUR) Italian Retail Sales m/m 1.70% vs 0.20% expected
- (EUR) German Retail Sales m/m -0.30% vs 2.30% expected
- (EUR) German Industrial Production m/m 3.50% vs 1.40% expected
- (JPY) Economy Watchers Sentiment 52 vs 49.1 expected
- (JPY) Leading Indicators 96.50% vs 96.90% expected
Markets Update:
Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday as concerns persisted about headwinds from rising global rates and China reported downbeat inflation data. The dollar hovered near a three-month high after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated hawkish message on the second day of testimony to U.S. Congress, but said the central bank was yet to decide on the size of a potential interest-rate rise later this month.
China’s consumer price inflation grew 1.0 percent on a yearly basis in February, weaker than the 2.1 percent gain in January and marking the slowest pace since February last year due to weak demand following the Lunar New Year holidays, official data showed.
Japanese shares rose for a fifth straight session to hit a 6-1/2-month high after data showed the country narrowly avoided a recession at the end of last year.
Australian markets finished marginally higher, recovering from an early slide on the back of gains in financial and technology stocks.
Oil and gold prices struggled for direction in Asian trading, waiting to take cues from Friday’s U.S. jobs report and next week’s inflation figures.
Upcoming Events:
- 12:01 am GMT – (GBP) RICS House Price Balance
- 01:30 am GMT – (CNY) CPI y/y
- 01:30 am GMT – (CNY) PPI y/y
- 05:58 am GMT – (JPY) Prelim Machine Tool Orders y/y
- 06:30 am GMT – (EUR) French Final Private Payrolls q/q
- 12:30 pm GMT – (USD) Challenger Job Cuts y/y
- 01:30 pm GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
- 03:00 pm GMT – (USD) FOMC Member Barr Speaks
- 03:30 pm GMT – (USD) Natural Gas Storage
- 06:01 pm GMT – (USD) 30-y Bond Auction
- 06:30 pm GMT – (CAD) Gov Council Member Rogers Speaks
- 09:30 pm GMT – (NZD) BusinessNZ Manufacturing Index
- 09:45 pm GMT – (NZD) Manufacturing Sales q/q
- 11:30 pm GMT – (JPY) Household Spending y/y
- 11:50 pm GMT – (JPY) PPI y/y