Market Roundup
- China Q4 economic trends point to slowdown in 2018 - Beige Book survey.
- Chinese regulator paying attention to chip price surge -China Daily.
- China's Nov industrial profits up 14.9 pct y/y, slowest growth since April.
- Taiwan dollar strengthening reflects weak US dollar - Central Bank.
- U.S. sanctions North Korean missile experts, Russia offers to mediate.
- U.S. appeals court rejects challenge to Trump voter fraud panel.
- Japan wraps up second-busiest IPO year in decade – Nikkei.
- Japan falls to 14th in manufacturing productivity – Nikkei, JPC survey.
Economic Data Ahead
- (0200 ET/0700 GMT) Switzerland UBS consumption indicator.
- (0300 ET/0800 GMT) Spain retail sales.
- (0400 ET/0900 GMT) Switzerland investor sentiment.
- (0430 ET/0930 GMT) UK finance mortgage approvals.
Key Events Ahead
- (1850 ET/2350 GMT) BOJ to release summary of opinions from board members at its Dec. 20-21 policy meeting – Tokyo.
FX Recap
USD: The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was little changed at 93.300.
EUR/USD: The euro was trading marginally higher on Wednesday and currently trading around $1.1880 mark. Pair made intraday high at $1.1880 and low at $1.1855 levels. A sustained close above $1.1875 is requires for the upside rally. Alternatively, reversal from key resistance will take the parity down towards $1.1737.
USD/JPY: The yen held steady in early Asia and was currently trading around 113.20 mark. A sustained close above 113.31 is required to take the parity higher towards key resistances around 113.75, 114.17, 115.37 and 117.42 marks. Alternatively, a daily close below 112.83 will drag the parity down towards 111.45, 109.23, 108.12 and 107.50 marks respectively.
GBP/USD: The pound moves in stiff boundaries against the U.S. dollar. Against the euro the pound trades marginally lower and was trading around at 0.8879. Intraday bias remains neutral till the time pair holds key resistance at $1.3397 mark.
AUD/USD: The Australian dollar rose to two-month highs on Wednesday led by higher prices for metals Australian's commodity-driven currency nudged up to $0.7748, a level not seen since late October.
NZD/USD: The New Zealand dollar was last down 0.1 percent at $0.7054, following four straight sessions of gains. The kiwi was still near a more than two-month peak, pushed higher by data last week that showed New Zealand's economic growth blew past expectations in the third quarter. New Zealand's gross domestic product rose 0.6 percent in the 3-months ended September with annual expansion at a healthy 2.7 percent.
Equities Recap
Shanghai composite index to open down 0.1 pct at 3,302.46 points and China's CSI300 index to open down 0.2 pct at 4,045.28 points.
Japan’s Nikkei was trading 0.10 pct higher at 22,916 points.
Australia’s S&P/ASX200 was trading 0.04 pct higher at 6,072.55 points.
Hong Kong’s hang seng was trading 0.08 pct higher at 29,603.44 points.
Taiwan stock was trading around 0.71 pct higher at 10,495.87 points.
South Korea’s Kospi was trading 0.25 percent lower at 2,420.32 points.
India’s NSE Nifty was trading around 0.04 percent higher at 10,534.95 points and BSE Sensex was trading at 0.09 percent higher 34,042.28 points.
Commodities Recap
Oil prices on Wednesday slipped away from two-and-a-half year highs hit the previous session as the gradual resumption of flows through a major North Sea pipeline made up for supply disruption in Libya. At 0210 GMT U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $59.74 a barrel, down 23 cents from their last settlement. WTI broke through $60 a barrel for the first time since June 2015 in the previous session. Brent crude futures were at $66.66 a barrel, down 36 cents. Brent broke through $67 for the first time since May 2015 the previous day.
Gold prices edged down on Wednesday, hovering just below a three-week high hit in the previous session, as the dollar held steady and equities firmed. Spot gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,281.71 an ounce as of 0337 GMT, after hitting its highest since Dec. 1 at $1,283.72 in the previous session. U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,286.70 an ounce.
Treasuries Recap
Australian government bond futures eased, with the three-year bond contract down 1.5 ticks at 97.790. The 10-year contract slipped 1 tick to 97.250.
