Market Roundup
- EUR/USD 0.41%, USD/JPY -0.47%, GBP/USD 0.02%, EUR/GBP 0.39%
- DXY -0.27%, DAX -1.58%, FTSE -0.63%, Brent -2.81%, Gold 0.53%
- ECB sees global economic slowdown in 2019
- China says direct trade talks with U.S. in January, pledges more opening
- China's industrial profits suffer first drop in 3 yrs, piles pressure on economy
- Sterling hovers above 3-day lows as Brexit caution dominates
- Oil slips back towards 18-month lows on oversupply
Economic Data Ahead
- (0800 ET/1300 GMT) US Nov Build Permits R Number, 1.328 mln prev
- (0800 ET/1300 GMT) US Nov Build Permits R Chg MM, 5.0% prev
- (0830 ET/1330 GMT) US w/e 22 Dec Initial Jobless Claims, 217k f'cast, 214k prev
- (0830 ET/1330 GMT) US w/e 15 Dec Continued Jobless Claims, 1.688 mln prev
- (1000 ET/1500 GMT) US Dec Consumer Confidence, 133.7 f'cast, 135.7 prev
Key Events Ahead
- (1850 ET/2350 GMT) 2350 Bank of Japan releases summary of opinions from board members at Dec. 19-20 policy meeting - Tokyo
FX Beat
DXY: The dollar index fails to hold previous session's gains, slips lower. DXY trades 0.28% lower at 96.74 at 1145 GMT. Technical bias neutral. Cloud offers strong support. Break below could see weakness.
EUR/USD: EUR/USD extends choppy trade. Price action finds stiff resistance at 55-EMA at 1.1406. Breakout at 55-EMA could see upside till 1.1494. Breakout above daily cloud eyes 200-DMA at 1.1676. Technical incators do not provide clear directional bias. Weekly action mildy bullish but 21-W SMA capping upside at 1.1468. 200-W SMA at 1.1310 is strong support. Break below will see resumption of downside.
USD/JPY: USD/JPY slips lower, erases previous session's gains, intraday bias bearish. Dollar failed to capitalize on a eight-day high hit in the previous session on the back of firmer U.S. Treasury yields. USD/JPY slips below 200-DMA, scope for further weakness on close below. Next major support lies at 50% Fib at 109.59. On the flipside, 21-EMA at 112.28 is strong resistance.
GBP/USD: Cable subdued below 21-EMA, bias bearish. Upside rejected at 20-DMA. GBP/USD trades at 1.2628, down 0.03% at the time of writing. Long-term bias is bearish. Recovery attempts capped at 21-EMA. Doji formation at highs signals weakness. Scope for resumption of weakness. Next bear target lies at 1.2476 (Dec 12 low). Break above 21-EMA eyes next resistance at 55-EMA at 1.2797. Bearish invalidation only above 110-EMA.
NZD/USD: NZD/USD has broken below cloud top support, bias is bearish. The major has broken channel base support and upside remains capped at 5-DMA which is sharply lower. Momentum with the bears. Breach at cloud support will see weakness till 61.8% Fib at 0.6632. On the flipside, retrace into channel and break above 200-DMA could see upside.
Equities Recap
European shares erase Wall Street bounce led gains, plunge lower.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index down 1.29 percent at 332.32 points, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index declined 0.61 percent to 1,312.43 points.
Britain's FTSE 100 trades 0.84 percent down at 6,630.05 points, while mid-cap FTSE 250 fell 0.41 to 17,241.50 points.
Germany's DAX rose 1.78 percent at 10,444.82 points; France's CAC 40 trades 0.08 percent lower at 4,622.39 points.
Commodities Recap
Worries over a glut in crude supply and concerns over a faltering global economy pressured oil prices. Brent crude oil was down 70 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $53.77 a barrel by 0845 GMT. U.S. light crude oil was 50 cents lower at $45.72.
Gold edges higher as global growth worries and volatility in stock markets boost demand for the safe-havens. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,268.21 per ounce as of 0823 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.2 percent to $1,271 per ounce.
Among other metals, silver slipped 0.3 percent to $14.98 per ounce, Platinum fell 0.5 percent to $791.00 per ounce, while palladium dipped 0.1 percent to $1,253.43.
Treasuries Recap
U.S.: The U.S. Treasuries climbed during late afternoon session Thursday following the country’s partial government shutdown after President Donald Trump refused to sign a legislation that did not contain the necessary funding for the built of Mexico border wall. Also, investors will be looking ahead to the country’s initial jobless claims and 7-year Note auction, both scheduled for today by 13:30GMT and 18:00GMT respectively. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasuries slumped 2 basis points to 2.777 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields fell 1-1/2 basis points to 3.035 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year remained tad lower at 2.603 percent.
EUR: The German bunds gained during European session Thursday amid a muted trading session that witnessed data of little economic significance. However, slight attention will remain concentrated on the country’s consumer price inflation (CPI) data for the month of December, scheduled to be released on December 28 by 13:00GMT for further direction in the debt market. The German 10-year bond yields, which move inversely to its price, slipped nearly 1-1/2 basis points to 0.242 percent, the yield on 30-year note hovered around 0.868 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year remained 1-1/2 basis points lower at -0.61 percent.
JGBs: The Japanese government bonds remained mixed during late Asian session Thursday ahead of the country’s industrial production and retail sales data for the month of November, scheduled to be released today by 23:50GMT respectively. The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB note, which moves inversely to its price, jumped nearly 2-1/2 basis points to 0.023 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note climbed 2 basis points to 0.735 percent while the yield on short-term 2-year traded nearly 12-1/2 basis points lower at -0.123 percent.
AUD: Australian government bonds remained steady on Thursday after investors returned from a long stretch of Christmas holidays, only to relapse into another streak of vacation mode at the start of next week, owing to New Year celebrations. The yield on Australia’s benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, slipped nearly 1 basis point to 2.369 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year bond hovered around 2.843 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded tad lower at 1.959 percent.
