Today’s Economic events
- Japan SPPI y/y 0.40% vs. 0.20%
- New Zealand Credit Card spending y/y 7.40% vs. 8.40% previously
- Switzerland trade balance 2.54bn vs. 3.33bn
- BoE Governor Carney testimony
Coming up
- The US housing price index
- US S&P/CS HPI
- US Flash services PMI
- US CB Consumer confidence
- Richmond manufacturing index
The markets eased into a risk-on sentiment as the day progressed but was marked with a weaker opening. Asian equity markets closed in the red this morning, with the Nikkei 225 closing -2.35% lower for the day while the Shanghai Composite lost -6.38% in early trading. The Yen continued to strengthen since yesterday but managed to reverse some of the losses. USDJPY is up 0.15% for the day after prices initially touched down an intraday low near 117.71 before posting a strong rally. The Dollar is trading near 118.4Yen at the time of writing, posting a session high.
The commodity risk currencies also managed to reverse the initial losses during the Asian session. AUDUSD is up 0.57% for the day trading near 0.699 after prices fell to touch session lows near 0.692 earlier. NZDUSD is also trading higher, gaining 0.47% on the day, at 0.648 at the time of writing.
The European session opened on a quiet note with not much of data to go by. EURUSD remains flat but down -0.17% for the day, trading at 1.083. Prices remain supported to the upside above 1.08 support but a break lower could risk a sharper decline. GBPUSD is also flat today with 0.02% gains. Prices touched a session low near 1.418 before easing back higher. The Pound posted strong gains despite Carney’s dovish testimony to the UK treasury committee. He noted that interest rates are likely to remain unchanged in the near future on low wage growth and weak inflation. On the equity front, European markets are trading modestly better. The German DAX is up 0.25% while the London FTSE is flat although down -0.04% for the day.
The NY trading session is expected to see the release of various economic data from the US while the Fed’s two-day meeting starts off today. Equity markets in the US are pointing to a higher start with the Dow Jones pointing to a 0.44% gain while the S&P500 is up 0.45% in the futures markets.
On the commodities front, Oil prices remained volatile today on rumors that OPEC members are seeking to find consensus on cutting Oil production. However, nothing is set in stone as of yet, but WTI Crude Oil managed to gain 2.75% for the day, trading above the $30 handle after initially dipping to session lows below $29.45. Gold prices are stronger for the day after prices touched highs of $1117 an ounce before pulling back. Gold is up 0.51% for the day and is trading currently at $1113
