Market Roundup
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin - Trade Negotiations With China Are In 'The Final Laps'- NYT.
- Two U.S. Navy warships sail through strategic Taiwan Strait.
- Spain's Socialists on course to regain power but talks awaits.
- China's industrial profits pick up in March with 13.9 pct rise.
- Broken UK politics means Scotland needs to choose its own path - SNP's Sturgeon.
- Trump's Fed pick Moore not planning to drop out of Fed consideration - interview.
Economic Data Ahead
- (0500 ET/0900 GMT) EU April Consumer Confidence Final, -7.9 forecast, -7.9 previous.
- (0500 ET/0900 GMT) EU April Business Climate, 0.49 forecast, 0.53 previous.
- (0500 ET/0900 GMT) EU April Economic Sentiment, 105.0 forecast, 105.5 previous.
- (0500 ET/0900 GMT) EU April Industrial Sentiment, -2.0 forecast, -1.7 previous.
- (0500 ET/0900 GMT) EU April Services Sentiment, 11.1 forecast, 11.3 previous.
Key Events Ahead
- (0410 ET/0810 GMT) Keynote speech by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney at Innovate Finance Global Summit 2019 in London.
- (0650 ET/1050 GMT) German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Labour Minister Hubertus Heil speak at "Fair Mobility" event about measures against illegal labour and enforcing fair wages and working conditions for migrant workers from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries on the German labour market in Berlin.
FX Recap
USD: Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was last steady at 98.032, having eased from a near two-year peak of 98.330.
EUR/USD: The euro was likewise almost unchanged at $1.1149, not far from a near two-year trough of $1.1110. It made intraday high at $1.1160 and low at $1.1144 mark. A consistent close below $1.1130 will drag the parity down towards key supports around $1.1080 and $1.0852 levels respectively. Alternatively, reversal from key support will drag the parity higher towards key resistances around $1.1390, $1.1472, $1.1550, $1.1620 and $1.1820 marks respectively.
USD/JPY: The Japanese yen trades almost flat around 111.60 mark as Japanese banks will be closed in observance of Showa Day. It made intraday high at 111.64 and low at 111.43 levels. A sustained close above 112.17 is required to take the parity higher towards key resistances around 112.60 and 113.98 marks respectively. Alternatively, a daily close below 111.53 will drag the parity down towards key support around 110.80, 109.70, 107.50 and 104.20 marks respectively.
GBP/USD: The Sterling edged 0.3 percent higher to $1.2932, its weakest since mid-February. Against the euro, the pound traded flat at 86.3 pence. On a weekly basis, it is set to decline 0.6 percent, its biggest drop in four weeks. Pair made intraday high at $1.2939 and low at $1.2913 mark. A sustained close below $1.2897 requires for dragging the parity down towards key support around $1.2772 mark. On the other side, key resistances are seen at $1.3020, $1.3187, $1.3215, $1.3362 and $1.3490 levels respectively.
AUD/USD: The Australian dollar nudged up to $0.7057 after ending around $0.6988 last week. The Aussie has lost nearly 2 percent last week, during which it sank to a near four-month trough as soft domestic inflation data boosted the prospect of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The pair made intraday high at $0.7057 and low at $0.7036 levels. A consistent close below $0.7015 requires for downside rally.
NZD/USD: The kiwi trades marginally higher against major peers on Monday. A sustained close above $0.6656 requires for the upside rally. Alternatively, key support was seen at $0.6580 mark.
Equities Recap
Japanese banks will be closed in observance of Showa Day.
Australia’s S&P/ASX200 was trading 0.54 pct lower at 6,351.55 points.
Shanghai composite index to open up 0.1 pct at 3,090.63 points and China's CSI300 index to open up 0.2 pct at 3,896.58 points
Hong Kong's hang seng index was trading 0.86 percent higher at 29,859.22 points.
South Korea’s Kospi was trading 1.08 percent higher at 2,202.58 points.
Taiwan stock was trading 0.09 percent lower at 10,942.61 points.
Commodities Recap
Oil prices fell on Monday, extending a slump from Friday that ended weeks of rallying, after President Donald Trump demanded that producer club OPEC raise output to soften the impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran. Brent crude futures were at $71.80 per barrel at 0215 GMT, down 35 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $62.91 per barrel, down 39 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their previous settlement. Both benchmarks fell around 3 percent in the previous session.
Gold steadied on Monday, trading near a more-than one week high touched in the previous session, on increased bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve might cut interest rate this year after a recent data showed inflationary weakness. Lower interest rates in the U.S. put pressure on the dollar and bond yields, making greenback-denominated gold less expensive for holders of other currencies. It also increases the appeal of non-yielding assets such as bullion. Spot gold was steady at $1,285.65 per ounce at 0426 GMT, having hit its highest since April 16 at $1,288.59 in the previous session. Meanwhile, U.S. gold futures shed 0.1 percent to $1,287.70 an ounce.
Treasuries Recap
Australian government bonds remained nearly flat during Asian session of the first trading day of the week Monday as investors remained side-lined amid a muted trading session that witnessed data of little economic significance.
The yield on Australia’s benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, hovered around 1.788 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year bond edged tad higher to 2.433 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year remained flat at 1.346 percent by 03:50GMT.
