Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei gained 0.20 %, Shanghai Composite fell 0.10 %, Hang Seng rose 0.40 %, ASX 200 lost 0.25 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1357 (+0.80 %), Silver at $20.22 (+1.85 %), WTI Oil at $42.75 (-0.10 %), Brent Oil at $45.00 (+0.05 %)
- Rates: US 10 year yield at 1.54, UK 10 year yield at 0.58, German 10 year yield at -0.09
News & Data:
- Australia Westpac Consumer Confidence Index (Aug): 101.0 (prev 99.1)
- Japan PPI (MoM) Jul: 0.0% (exp -0.1% prev -0.1%)
- Japan PPI (YoY) Jul: -3.9% (exp -4.0% prev -4.2%)
- Japan Machine Orders (MoM) Jun: 8.3% (exp 3.2% prev -1.4%)
- Japan Machine Orders (YoY) Jun: -0.9% (exp -4.5% prev -11.7%)
- Japan Tertiary Industry Index (MoM) Jun: 0.8% (exp 0.3% prev -0.7%)
- Japan Housing Loans (YoY) Q2: 2.4% (prev 1.9%)
- South Korea Unemployment Rate SA (Jul): 3.6% (exp 3.6% prev 3.6%)
- PBoC Fixes Yuan Reference Rate at 6.6530 (prev 6.6594)
- RBA Gov Stevens: Current Inflation Target Regime Has Flexibility, Still Useful — RTRS
- Stevens: Need Realism On What Monetary Policy Can Do, Including Pushing Up Inflation Quickly
- Stevens: Board Aware of Risks of Trying to Push Inflation to Target in "Short Order"
- Stevens: Undershooting Inflation Target with Reasonable Economic Growth Might Be "Least Bad" Option
- Stevens: Chances OF Negative Rates in Australia Are Low
- Stevens: Inflation's Going to Be Pretty Low for A While
Markets Update:
The US Dollar retraced some of its recent gains as the market switched back to a risk-on bias. EUR/USD reached 1.1120 in the early Asian session and extended gains to 1.1155 overnight. GBP/USD, which fell to 1.2960 yesterday after weak UK data, managed to recover to 1.3090. Meanwhile, USD/JPY declined from 102.00 to a low of 101.15. While the pair usually benefits from a risk-on environment, the weakness highlights that there has been broad position covering from USD longs in the past 12 hours.
AUD/USD rallied to 0.7705 in the APAC session, a fresh 3-month high. NZD/USD was also very well bid and reached a high of 0.7225, up 0.70 % on the day. Keep in mind that the RBNZ will decide on interest rates tonight and is expected to cut its OCR by 25bps.
Upcoming Events:
- 09:00 BST – Norwegian CPI
- 15:00 BST – US JOLTs Job Openings
- 15:30 BST – US Crude Oil Inventories
- 22:00 BST – RBNZ Rate Decision
- 23:00 BST – RBNZ Governor Wheeler speaks
