Tuesday 15th September: Markets tread higher on positive Chinese data

Global Markets:

• Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.44%, Shanghai Composite up 0.51%, Hang Seng up 0.35%, ASX down 0.08%
• Commodities : Gold at $1971.20 (+0.38%), Silver at $27.50 (+0.51%), Brent Oil at $39.54 (-0.18%), WTI Oil at $37.17 (-0.24%)
• Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.674, UK 10-year yield at 0.206, Germany 10-year yield at -0.480

News & Data:

• (GBP) Claimant Count Change 73.7K vs 99.5K expected
• (NZD) Westpac Consumer Sentiment 95.1 vs 97.2 previous
• (EUR) Industrial Production m/m 4.10% vs 4.00% expected
• Suga wins party vote, all but assuring election as Japan PM
• Swiss Producer and Import Price Index fell in August 2020 by 0.4%

Markets Update:

Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Tuesday with modest gains following the positive cues from Wall Street and as investors turned cautious ahead of key central bank meetings this week.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement is due on Wednesday, while the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England are scheduled to announce their respective monetary policy decisions on Thursday.

Japanese stocks declined on the day, as the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4% while the Topix index shed 0.6%. Mainland Chinese stocks edged higher by their close, with the Shanghai composite up 0.5% while the Shenzhen component advanced 0.9%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.3%.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.1% lower, as the Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday released minutes from its September meeting, where members noted that “the downturn had not been as severe as earlier expected and a recovery was under way in most of Australia.”

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.918 after an earlier high of 93.1. The Japanese yen changed hands at 105.72 per dollar after strengthening sharply yesterday from levels above 105.9 against the greenback.

Upcoming Events:

• 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) ZEW Economic Sentiment
• 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) German ZEW Economic Sentiment
• 12:30 PM GMT – (CAD) Manufacturing Sales m/m
• 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Empire State Manufacturing Index
• 12:30 PM GMT – (USD) Import Prices m/m
• 01:15 PM GMT – (USD) Capacity Utilization Rate
• 01:15 PM GMT – (USD) Industrial Production m/m
• 02:30 PM GMT – (AUD) CB Leading Index m/m
• Tentative – (NZD) GDT Price Index
• 10:45 PM GMT – (NZD) Current Account
• 11:50 PM GMT – (JPY) Trade Balance