Market Roundup
- BOJ leaves policy as is, as eyed, Kataoka dissents for more ease.
- BOJ remains upbeat on economy, consumption and CAPEX good.
- BOJ's Kataoka - Should clarify BOJ will ease again if needed to make CPI target.
- Japan foresees $114 bln GDP boost from trade pacts – Nikkei.
- Japan’s new rules for high frequency trade set for April – Nikkei.
- U.S. House gives final approval to tax bill, delivering victory to Trump.
- U.S. tax plan roils popular bet in bond market.
- U.S. House Republicans battle over defense spending in stopgap bill.
- British PM May forces her own deputy to resign after pornography scandal.
- Rising tax revenues could cheer German coalition negotiators.
- Catalonia votes in election pivotal for independence campaign.
- European Commission warns on bitcoin risks.
- New Zealand Q3 GDP Production QQ, 0.6%, forecast 0.5%, 0.8% last, 1.0% revised.
- Fitch upgrades Indonesia, cites economy's resilience to shocks.
- South Africa's new ANC leader Ramaphosa aims to fight corruption.
Economic Data Ahead
- (0200 ET/0700 GMT) Switzerland trade balance.
- (0200 ET/0700 GMT) Denmark Retail sales and consumer confidence.
- (0200 ET/0700 GMT) Turkey consumer confidence.
- (0245 ET/0745 GMT) France Business climate.
- (0300 ET/0800 GMT) Sweden consumer confidence, manufacturing confidence.
- (0330 ET/0830 GMT) Taiwan discount rate.
- (0300 ET/0830 GMT) Hong kong Consuer price index.
- (0830 ET/1330 GMT) Canada CPI, retail sales and ADP non-farm employment change.
- (0830 ET/1330 GMT) U.S. final GDP, Philly Fed manufacturing Index and unemployment claims.
- (0900 ET/1400 GMT) U.S. HPI m/m.
- (1000 ET/1500 GMT) Euro Zone December Consumer Confidence Flash
Key Events Ahead
- No events were scheduled for the day.
FX Recap
USD: The dollar index, stood at 93.39 vs previous close of 93.35 levels.
EUR/USD: The euro held steady at $1.1866, having gained around 1 percent so far this week. A rise in German bond yields this week has helped underpin the euro. Against the yen, the euro was little changed at 134.56 yen. On Wednesday, the euro had risen to as high as 134.76 yen, its strongest level against the yen since October 2015. Pair made intraday high at $1.1882 and low at $1.1863 levels. A sustained close above $1.1872 is requires for the upside rally. Alternatively, reversal from key resistance will take the parity down towards $1.1737.
USD/JPY: The yen falls in early Asia as BOJ keeps monetary policy steady. Pair made intraday high at 113.45 and low at 113.20 levels. A sustained close above 113.46 is required to take the parity higher towards key resistances around 114.17, 115.37 and 117.42 marks. Alternatively, a daily close below 113.46 will drag the parity down towards 112.84, 111.45, 109.23, 108.12 and 107.50 marks respectively.
GBP/USD: Sterling edged down 0.7 percent on the day to $1.3362. Against the euro, it inched up 0.1 percent to 88.37 pence. Sterling edged up against the dollar and euro in a quiet day of trading on Wednesday, with investors cautious about taking on large new positions on the currency ahead of the Christmas holiday and phase two of the Brexit talks next year.
AUD/USD: The Australian dollar held at $0.7666, not too far from last week's high of 0.7694 - a level not seen since early November. The Aussie has traded in a tight range of $0.7625-$0.7694 in the past six sessions, and looks like it will end the week barely changed after a solid 1.9 percent rise the previous week.
NZD/USD: The New Zealand dollar jumped to a near two-month peak on Thursday after news of expectation-busting economic growth in the third quarter, while the Australian dollar was trapped in a narrow band. The New Zealand dollar climbed as far as $0.7020, within nearest distance of $0.7034 seen last week - the highest since mid-October.
Equities Recap
Shanghai composite index to open down 0.2 pct at 3,281.12 points and China's CSI300 index to open down 0.2 pct at 4,023.08 points.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading 0.24 pct lower at 6,061.55 points.
Japan’s Nikkei was trading around 0.10 pct lower at 22,868.65 points.
Taiwan stock was trading around 0.03 pct higher at 10,501.44 points.
Hong Kong’s Hang seng was trading 0.48 pct higher at 29,373.55 points.
South Korea’s Kospi was trading 1.05 percent lower at 2,435.91 points.
India’s NSE Nifty was trading around 0.16 percent higher at 10,460.95 points and BSE Sensex was trading at 0.17 percent higher 33,826.59 points.
Commodities Recap
Oil prices were stable on Thursday after posting strong gains late in the previous session on the back of a drop in U.S. crude inventories. Another rise in U.S. oil production, which is close to breaking through 10 million barrels per day (bpd) is capping crude prices as it undermines efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia to tighten the market through withholding output this year and next. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $58.05 a barrel at 0126 GMT, down 3 cents from their last settlement.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $64.58 a barrel, down 8 cents. Both crude benchmarks gained around 1 percent during the previous session. Gold prices edged up to touch a two-week high on Thursday amid firm underlying support and expectations of year-end purchases, with the dollar and stocks little changed in Asian trade. Spot gold was up 0.15 percent at $1,267.50 an ounce at 0407 GMT, after hitting its best since Dec. 6 at $1,268.26 earlier. U.S. gold futures were up 0.1 percent at $1,271 an ounce.
Treasuries Recap
New Zealand government bonds eased in line with U.S. Treasuries, sending yields about 2 basis points higher at the long end of the curve.
Australian government bond futures slipped too, with the three-year bond contract down half a tick at 97.84. The 10-year contract fell 3 ticks to 97.3050.
