Asia:
Major Asian stock markets had mixed days today:
- NIKKEI 225 fell 205.82 points, or -0.73%, to 27,821.43
- Shanghai fell 14.39 points, or -0.44%, to 3,252.20
- Hang Seng was down 235.18 points or -1.06% at 21.996.85
- The ASX 200 fell 14.90 points, or -0.20%, to 7,499.60
- Kospi rose 10.91 points, or 0.40%, to 2,757.65
- The Sensex fell 115.48 points, or -0.20%, to 58,568.51
- The Nifty 50 fell 33.50 points, or -0.19%, to 17,464.75
Major Asian currency markets had mixed days today:
- AUDUSD rose 0.00010 or 0.02% to 0.74972
- NZDUSD fell 0.00230 or -0.33% to 0.69443
- USDJPY fell 0.726 or -0.59% to 121.386
- USDCNY decreased 0.00970 or -0.15% to 6.35115
Precious Metals:
- Gold rose 8.61 USD / t oz or 0.45% to 1,941.67
- Silver rose 0.049 USD / t. oz or 0.20% to 24.894
Some economic news from last night:
China:
The Chinese composite PMI (Mar) fell from 51.2 to 48.8
Manufacturing PMI (March) declined to 50.5 from 49.2
The non-manufacturing PMI (March) fell to 51.4 from 48.6
Japan:
Foreign bond purchases decreased from -109.7B to -708.2B ৷
Foreign investment in Japanese stocks increased from -631.8B to -241.1B
Industrial Production (MoM) (February) -0.8% to 0.1%
Industrial production forecasts are 1m ahead (MoM) (Mar) from 5.7% to 3.6%
Industrial production forecast 2m ahead (MoM) (Apr) increased from 0.1% to 9.6%
South Korea:
The Manufacturing BSI Index (April) fell from 91 to 83
Industrial production (YoY) (February) increased from 4.2% to 6.5%
Industrial Production (MoM) (February) rose 0.3% to 0.6%
Retail sales (MoM) increased from -1.9% to 0.1%
Service Sector Output (MoM) (February) -0.4% to -0.3%
Australia:
Building Approval (MoM) (February) increased from -27.1% to 43.5%
Housing credit (February) rose 0.7% to 0.6%
Private House approval (February) increased from -16.3% to 16.5%
Private Sector Credit (MoM) (February) remains the same at 0.6%
Singapore:
Bank loan increased from 818.0B to 829.5B
Today’s economic news
Japan:
Construction Order (YoY) (February) fell to -2.3% from 11.0%
Housing Starts (YoY) (February) rose to 6.3% from 2.1%
India:
External debt (USD) (Q4) increased from 603.4B to 614.9B
Federal Fiscal Deficit (February) increased from 9,378.68B to 13,165.95B
Balance of Payments (USD) (Q4) decreased from 31.200B to 0.500B
Current account of GDP (QoQ) (Q4) has increased from% -1.30% to 2.70%
Current Account (USD) (Q4) has gone from -9.90B to -23.00B
Trade balance (USD) (Q4) decreased from -44.400B to -60.400B
Infrastructure output (YoY) (February) increased from 4.0% to 5.8%
Hong Kong:
M3 Money supply (February) increased from -12.2% to -1.1%
Retail sales (YoY) (February) fell to -14.6% from 4.1%
EUROPE / EMEA:
Europe’s major stock markets had a negative day:
- The CAC 40 fell 81.72 points, or -1.21%, to 6,659.87
- The FTSE 100 fell 63.07 points, or -0.83%, to 7,515.68
- DAX 30 fell 191.30 points, or -1.31%, to 14,414.75
Europe’s major currency markets had mixed days today:
- EURUSD fell 0.00620 or -0.56% to 1.10968
- GBPUSD rose 0.00230 or 0.17% to 1.31552
- USDCHF decreased 0.00200 or -0.22% to 0.92129
Today’s economic news from Europe:
United Kingdom:
Business Investment (YoY) (Q4) fell to 1.0% from 5.1%
Business Investment (QoQ) (Q4) increased from 0.7% to 1.0%
Current account (Q4) increased from -28.9B to -7.3B
GDP (QoQ) (Q4) increased from 0.9% to 1.3%
GDP (YoY) (Q4) fell to 6.6% from 6.9%
Nationwide HPI (MoM) (Mar) decreased from 1.7% to 1.1%
Nationwide HPI (YoY) (Mar) increased from 12.6% to 14.3%
Germany:
German retail sales (YoY) (February) increased from 10.4% to 7.0%
German retail sales (MoM) (February) rose from 2.0% to 0.3%
German unemployment change (March) increased from -32K to -18K
The German unemployment rate (March) remains the same at 5.0%
German unemployment (March) fell from 2.312M to 2.298M
German unemployment rate has dropped from 2.428M to 2.362M
Switzerland:
Retail sales (YoY) (February) rose to 12.8% from 5.7%
France:
French Consumer Spending (MoM) (February) -2.0% to 0.8%
French CPI (YoY) rose to 4.5% from 3.6%
French CPI (MoM) has risen from 0.8% to 1.4%
French HICP (MoM) increased from 0.9% to 1.6%
French HICP (YoY) has risen from 4.2% to 5.1%
French PPI (MoM) (February) fell from 4.7% to 1.1%
Italy:
Italy’s monthly unemployment rate (February) fell to 7.5% from 6.8%
Italian CPI (YoY) (Mar) rose 6.7% to 5.7%
Italian CPI (MoM) (Mar) rose to 1.2% from 0.9%
Italian HICP (MoM) (Mar) increased from 0.8% to 2.6%
Italian HICP (YoY) (Mar) increased from 6.2% to 7.0%
Spain:
Spanish current account (January) decreased from -1.31B to -2.60B
Eurozone:
Unemployment rate (February) has come down from 6.9% to 7.8%
US / Americas:
U.S. unemployment claims fell to a 52-year low after falling from 28,000 to 187,000 last week, indicating a strong labor market. Some believe the strong picture could push the Fed to raise rates by 50 basis points at the next meeting instead of the expected 25.
The Personal Expenditure Price Index (PCE) rose 5.4% in March on an annualized basis. This is the most significant leap since April 1983. Headline PCE rose 6.4%, the fastest pace since January 1982, as gas and food prices rose. Consumer spending rose more than two-thirds of US GDP, a marginal 0.2%.
According to the latest ADP report released this Wednesday, the number of U.S. wages rose 455,000 in March, exceeding expectations of 5,000 positions. The February figures were revised to reflect an increase of 486,000 positions. This brings ADP’s total Q1 recruitment estimates to 1.45 million. Retirement and hospitality saw the most significant increase in 161,000 recruits, while education and health services added an additional 72,000 posts, and business services added 61,000. The report comes ahead of the much-anticipated non-farm pay-roll report due to be released by the Department of Labor on Friday.
US market closed:
- The Dow fell 550.46 points, or -1.56%, to 34,678.35
- The S&P 500 fell 72.04 points, or 1.57%, to 4,530.41
- The Nasdaq was down 221.76 points, or -1.54%, at 14,220.54
- Russell 2000 fell 20.94 points, or -1%, to 2,070.13
Canada Market Closed:
- The TSX Composite fell 185.8 points, or -0.84%, to 21,890.16
- The TSX 60 fell 12.12 points, or -0.91%, to 1,322.67
Brazil market closed:
- Bowespa fell 260.53 points, or -0.22%, to 119,999.23
Strength:
The oil market was mixed today:
- Crude oil fell 3.95 USD / BBL or -3.66% to 103.8700
- Brent fell 5.70 USD / BBL or -5.02% to 107.9400
- Natural gas rose 0.111 USD / MMBtu or 1.98% to 5.7160
- Petrol fell 0.1077 USD / GAL or -3.24% to 3.2173
- Heating oil fell 0.0284 USD / GAL or -0.75% to 3.7801
The above data was collected around 12:26 EST on Thursday
- Top products beneficiaries: natural gas (1.98%) and wheat (3.96%), corn (4.13%), orange juice (2.73%)
- Top product losses: Brent (-5.02%), crude oil (-3.66%), gasoline (-3.24%) and palm oil (-3.86%)
The above information was collected around 12:33 EST on Thursday.
Bonds:
Japan 0.2200% (+ 0.6bp), US 2 2.30% (-0.010%), US 10 2.3307% (-2.72bps); 2.45% (-0.029%) of US 30, Bunds 0.551% (-10.7bp), France 0.985% (-9.2bp), Italy 2.0400% (-9.3bp), Turkey 24.09% (-13bp), Greece 2-66 % 10.8bp), Portugal 1.373% (-8.4bp); Spain 1.451% (-9.6bp) and UK Gilts 1.612% (-5.4bp).