Thursday 12th September: Asian markets gain on renewed trade hopes

Global Markets:

• Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.88%, Shanghai Composite up 0.30%, Hang Seng down 0.34%, ASX up 0.19%
• Commodities: Gold at $1504.95 (+0.12%), Silver at $18.19 (+0.12%), Brent Oil at $61.31 (+0.82%), WTI Oil at $56.31 (+1.00%)
• Rates : US 10-year yield at 1.747, UK 10-year yield at 0.638, Germany 10-year yield at -0.558

News & Data:

• (JPY) Tertiary Industry Activity m/m 0.10% vs -0.30% expected
• (AUD) MI Inflation Expectations 3.10% vs 3.50% previous
• (JPY) PPI y/y -0.90% vs -0.80% expected
• (JPY) Core Machinery Orders m/m -6.60% vs -9.00% expected
• (GBP) RICS House Price Balance -4.00% vs -10.00% expected
• (NZD) FPI m/m 0.70% vs 1.10% previous
• (USD) 10-y Bond Auction 1.74|2.5 vs 1.67|2.2 previous
• (USD) Crude Oil Inventories -6.9M vs -2.7M expected
• (USD) Final Wholesale Inventories m/m 0.20% vs 0.20% expected
• (USD) PPI m/m 0.10% vs 0.00% expected
• (USD) Core PPI m/m 0.30% vs 0.20% expected
• (CAD) Capacity Utilization Rate 83.30% vs 82.00% expected
• (CNY) M2 Money Supply y/y 8.20% vs 8.20% expected
• (CNY) New Loans 1210B vs 1200B expected
• (AUD) Westpac Consumer Sentiment -1.70% vs 3.60% previous

Markets Update:

Asian stocks hit a six-week high on Thursday on hopes for a thaw in U.S.-China trade frictions and expectations that the European Central Bank would kick off another wave of monetary easing by global central banks. Chinese stocks rose and the yuan hit a three-week high after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to delay an additional increase in tariffs on Chinese goods by two weeks. Investors also await an ECB meeting later on Thursday to see how far policymakers will go to support a flagging economy.

Asian markets were mostly up in early trading Thursday as trade-war tensions eased. Nikkei rises 0.88% after Trump delays tariff hikes, but stocks in mainland China give up early gains and are trading at 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 0.34% after Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing made an unsolicited $36.6 billion bid to buy London Stock Exchange. Australian stocks rose by 0.19%.

U.S. stock futures jumped 0.42% and safe-havens such as the yen, U.S. Treasuries, and gold weakened in a sign of improving appetite for risk. The dollar briefly rose to a six-week high of 108.11 yen before paring gains slightly to trade up 0.17% at 108.04 yen. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to 1.747%, the highest in more than five weeks, extending a sell-off in government bonds that started on Sept. 4. Oil prices rose in Asia, rebounding from a tumble on Wednesday, on hopes OPEC members will cut output to support prices. U.S. crude ticked up 1% to $56.31 in Asia on Thursday. Futures tumbled more than 2% on Wednesday following a report that Trump is considering easing sanctions on Iran, which could potentially boost oil supplies. Gold prices were unchanged and stayed above the key $1,500 level ahead of the highly anticipated European Central Bank (ECB) meeting due later in the day. Spot gold is trading at $1504.95.

Upcoming Events:

• 9:00 am GMT – (EUR) Industrial Production m/m
• Tentative – (All) OPEC-JMMC Meetings
• 11:45 am GMT – (EUR) Main Refinancing Rate
• 11:45 am GMT – (EUR) Monetary Policy Statement
• 12:30 pm GMT – (CAD) NHPI m/m
• 12:30 pm GMT – (EUR) ECB Press Conference
• 12:30 pm GMT – (USD) CPI m/m
• 12:30 pm GMT – (USD) Core CPI m/m
• 12:30 pm GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
• 1:30 pm GMT – (GBP) CB Leading Index m/m
• 2:30 pm GMT – (USD) Natural Gas Storage
• 5:01 pm GMT – (USD) 30-y Bond Auction
• 6:00 pm GMT – (USD) Federal Budget Balance
• 10:30 pm GMT – (NZD) Business NZ Manufacturing Index