Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei up 0.70 %, Shanghai Composite gained 2.40 %, Hang Seng rose 1.40 %, ASX 200 lost 0.25 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1215 (-0.15 %), Silver at $16.14 (-0.80 %), WTI Oil at $49.55 (+0.45 %), Brent Oil at $50.22 (-0.30 %)
- Rates: US 10 year yield at 1.86, UK 10 year yield at 1.43, German 10 year yield at 0.17
News & Data:
- Australia Current Account (AUD) (Q1): -20.8bn (est -19.5B, prev -22.6B)
- Australia Private Sector Credit (MoM) (Apr): 0.50% (est 0.50%, prev 0.40%)
- Australia Building Approvals (MoM) (Apr): +3.0% (est -3.00%, prev 2.90%)
- Australia Building Approvals (YoY) (Apr): 0.70% (est -6.70%, prev -5.40%)
- Japan Real Household Spending (YoY) (Apr): -0.40% (est -1.30%, prev -5.30%)
- Japan Unemployment Rate (Apr): 3.20% (est 3.20%, prev 3.20%)
- Japan Job-to -Applicant Ratio (Apr): 1.34 (est 1.30, prev 1.30)
- Japan Industrial Production (MoM) (Apr P): 0.30% (est -1.50%, prev 3.80%)
- Japan Industrial Production (YoY) (Apr P): -3.50% (est 0.20%, prev 0.20%)
- New Zealand Building Permits MoM (Apr): +6.60% (prev -9.80%)
- New Zealand NBNZ Business Confidence (May): 11.3 (prev 6.2)
- New Zealand NBNZ Activity Outlook (May): 30.4 (prev 32.1)
- New Zealand M3 Money Supply (YoY, Apr): 7.80% (prev 7.80%)
- UK Lloyds Business Barometer (May): 32 (prev 38)
- PBOC fixes yuan at 6.5790 (prev fix 6.5784, prev close 6.5815)
Markets Update:
The US Dollar retraced some of its recent gains overnight. The Australian Dollar rallied after better than expected AUS trade data. AUD/USD reached a high of 0.7250, up roughly 70 pips from where it was trading before the data release. AUD/JPY rallied from 79.80 to 80.70.
This also boosted the New Zealand Dollar, which rose from 0.6690 to 0.6730 against the USD. The Canadian Dollar also strengthened, partly due to the rise in oil prices. USD/CAD fell from 1.3055 in the early session to a low of 1.3018.
USD/JPY remains well bid. It briefly fell to 110.80 after the Tokyo open, but bounced from there and rose back to 111.30. EUR/USD was quiet as usual, trading in a 1.1135-55 range.
Upcoming Events:
- 07:00 BST – German Retail Sales
- 07:45 BST – French CPI
- 08:55 BST – German Unemployment Rate
- 10:00 BST – Italian CPI
- 10:00 BST – Euro Zone CPI
- 10:00 BST – Euro Zone Unemployment Rate
- 13:30 BST – Canadian GDP
- 13:30 BST – US Personal Spending
- 13:30 BST – US Personal Income
- 14:45 BST – US Chicago PMI
- 15:00 BST – US CB Consumer Confidence
