Market Roundup
- Bank of Japan board members press for debate on rates, ETF purchases.
- Japan November Industrial output m/m, 0.6%, forecast 0.5%, 0.5% last.
- Japan November Retail Sales y/y, 2.2%, forecast 1.2%, -0.2% last.
- China's yuan rises to 6th most-used currency in November.
- South Korea to impose additional regulatory curbs on cryptocurrency trading.
- U.S., South Korea to hold trade talks on January 5 in Washington.
- Tillerson, Lavrov agree to continue North Korea diplomacy - U.S. State Dept.
- UK firms see Q4 pickup, expect slowdown in early 2018 – CBI.
- Indian bond yields jump after govt announces additional borrowing.
Economic Data Ahead
- (0200 ET/0700 GMT) Turkey economic confidence index.
- (0200 ET/0700 GMT) Norway retail sales ex – auto.
- (0330 ET/0830 GMT) Sweden trade balance.
- (0330 ET/0830 GMT) Hong kong export, import data.
- (0430 ET/0930 GMT) UK finance mortgage approvals.
- (0500 ET/1000 GMT) Brazil IGP M inflation index.
- (0700 ET/ 1200 GMT) South Africa trade balance.
Key Events Ahead
- No major events were scheduled for the day.
FX Recap
USD: The dollar's index against a basket of six major currencies last stood at 92.980, languishing near Wednesday's trough of 92.956, its weakest level since December 1.
EUR/USD: The euro edges up 0.1 percent to $1.1922, having set a 3-1/2 week high of $1.1929 on Thursday. Pair made intraday high at $1.1929 and low at $1.1886 levels. A sustained close above $1.1886 is requires for the upside rally. Alternatively, reversal from key resistance will take the parity down towards $1.1737.
USD/JPY: The yen trades higher in early Asia on robust retail sales, industrial production data. Pair was currently trading around 112.87 mark. It made intraday high at 113.34 and low at 112.85 levels. A sustained close above 113.34 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 113.34 will drag the parity down towards key supports around 112.51, 111.45, 109.23, 108.12 and 107.50 marks respectively.
GBP/USD: The pound trades higher and was currently trading around $1.3433 mark against the U.S. dollar. Against the euro the pound trades almost flat at 0.8882 mark. Intraday bias remains bullish till the time pair holds key support at $1.3367 mark. Immediate resistance was seen at $1.3465 mark.
AUD/USD: The Australian dollar hovers near multi-week peaks on Thursday as a rally in metals combined with low volatility globally and a soft greenback encouraged leveraged plays in higher-yielding assets. Australia's commodity-driven currency edges up 0.1 percent to $0.7797. Immediate support was seen at $0.7699 and resistance was seen at $0.7882 levels.
NZD/USD: The New Zealand dollar also joined the party, climbing as far as $0.7092 - a level not seen since mid-October. The kiwi dollar is up 2 percent for the year, almost matching its lacklustre performance in 2016. The kiwi had suffered hefty losses in October over fears the country's new Labour-led government would introduce policies that will hurt foreign investment, migration and ultimately economic growth.
Equities Recap
Shanghai composite index to open down 0.1 pct at 3,272.29 points and China's CSI300 index to open flat at 3,993.00 points.
Japan’s Nikkei was trading 0.30 pct lower at 22,842.22 points.
Australia’s S&P/ASX200 was trading 0.30 pct higher at 6,088.55 points.
Hong Kong’s hang seng was trading 0.68 pct higher at 29,800.44 points.
Taiwan stock was trading around 0.61 pct higher at 10,550.87 points.
South Korea’s Kospi was trading 1.00 percent higher at 2,460.32 points.
India’s NSE Nifty was trading around 0.11 percent higher at 10,502.95 points and BSE Sensex was trading at 0.05 percent higher 33,909.28 points.
Commodities Recap
Oil prices were stable on Thursday with trading activity drying up ahead of the New Year weekend. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $59.69 a barrel at 0336 GMT, up 5 cents from their last settlement. WTI broke through $60 a barrel earlier this week, the first time since June 2015. Brent crude futures were at $66.50 a barrel, up 6 cents. Brent broke through $67 earlier this week, the first time since May 2015 this week.
Gold prices rose to their highest level in one month on Thursday in light holiday trade and as the dollar fell to a four-week low. Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,289.10 an ounce at 0322 GMT, after earlier reaching its best since Nov. 29 at $1,289.92. U.S. gold futures were up 0.1 percent at $1,292.20 an ounce.
Treasuries Recap
New Zealand government bonds rose in line with U.S. Treasuries, sending yields about 4 basis points lower at the long-end and 2-3 basis points lower at the short-end of the curve.
Australian government bond futures edged higher too, with the three-year bond contract up half a tick at 97.805. The 10-year contract rose 2.5 ticks to 97.3050.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield stood near 2.42 percent, having come off a nine-month high of 2.504 percent set last week. The U.S. 10-year yield had slipped on Wednesday as investors rebalanced portfolios before year-end.
