Thursday 30th April: Asian markets gain on success of Gilead’s trial.

Global Markets:

• Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 2.14%, Shanghai Composite up 1.33%, ASX up 2.39%
• Commodities : Gold at $1732.35 (+1.11%), Silver at $15.76 (+3.96%), Brent Oil at $25.95 (+7.10%), WTI Oil at $17.02 (+13.01%)
• Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.609, UK 10-year yield at 0.274, Germany 10-year yield at -0.512

News & Data:

• (EUR) Spanish Flash GDP q/q -5.20% vs -4.20% expected
• (EUR) French Flash GDP q/q -5.80% vs -4.00% expected
• (CNY) Caixin Manufacturing PMI 49.4 vs 50.1 previous
• (NZD) ANZ Business Confidence -66.6 vs -73.1 previous
• (CNY) Non-Manufacturing PMI 53.2 vs 52.7 expected
• (CNY) Manufacturing PMI 50.8 vs 51 expected
• (USD) Federal Funds Rate <0.25% vs <0.25% expected
• (USD) Pending Home Sales m/m -20.80% vs -13.30% expected
• (USD) Advance GDP Price Index q/q 1.30% vs 1.00% expected
• (USD) Advance GDP q/q -4.80% vs -4.00% expected

Markets Update:

Asian stocks finished mostly higher on Thursday after a top U.S. health official said Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral drug remdesivir was likely to become the standard of care for Covid-19. Speaking at the White House Wednesday, top U.S. doctor Anthony Fauci said that early results from a trial showed it helped certain patients recover more quickly.

Mainland Chinese stocks rose on the day, with the Shanghai composite up 1.3% while the Shenzhen composite added 1.9%. Stocks in Japan saw robust gains as they returned to trade following a Wednesday holiday. The Nikkei 225 jumped 2.1%. Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea were closed on Thursday for a holiday.

Investor sentiment was further bolstered after the Federal Reserve left key interest rates near zero, as widely expected, and said the U.S. central bank would continue to support recovery from the economic shock of the coronavirus.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 99.469 after seeing levels above 100 earlier this week. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasuries stayed parked at 0.609%, after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates near zero and gave no indication of lifting them any time soon.

Upcoming Events:

• 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Prelim Flash GDP q/q
• 11:45 AM GMT – (EUR) Main Refinancing Rate
• 11:45 AM GMT – (EUR) Monetary Policy Statement
• 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) GDP m/m
• 12:30 PM GMT – (EUR) ECB Press Conference
• 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Unemployment Claims
• 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Personal Spending m/m
• 01:45 PM GMT – (USD) Chicago PMI