Market Roundup
- RBA'S Lowe - Worried about consumer spending as debt races.
- RBA'S Lowe - Concerned about impact of sharp house price correction on household spending, economy.
- RBA'S Lowe - Higher the indebtedness the greater is the sensitivity of spending to shocks to income.
- RBA'S Lowe - We should not expect interest rates always to be this low.
- RBA'S Lowe - Over time we could expect interest rates to rise in Australia.
- RBA'S Lowe - Australian banks are resilient, soundly capitalized.
- U.S. House to vote Thursday on healthcare as Trump presses Republican ranks.
- National Australia Bank H1 cash profit rises 2.3% as lending grows.
- Australia March balance goods/services AUD+3,107 mln, s/adj poll: surplus AUD3,400 mln.
- Australia March goods/services exports +2 % m/m, imports +5% m/m s.a.
- China Caixin April services PMI 51.5 from 52.2 signals slowest expansion in nearly a year.
- Thai April consumer confidence index at 77.0 vs 76.8 in March.
- India nikkei/markit services PMI falls to 50.2 in April (51.5 in March).
- Swiss consumer sentiment at -8 points in q2 compared to -3 points in Q1.
- Russia services PMI falls to 56.1 in April from 56.6 in March.
- Swedish services PMI 60.3 points in April.
Economic Data Ahead
- (0315 ET/0715 GMT) Spain Services PMI Apr 57.40 previous.
- (0345 ET/0745 GMT) Italy Markit/ADACI Services PMI Apr 52.90 previous.
- (0350 ET/0750 GMT) France Markit Service PMI Apr 57.70 previous.
- (0350 ET/0750 GMT) France Markit Composite PMI Apr 57.40 previous.
- (0355ET/0755 GMT) Germany Markit Services PMI Apr 54.70 previous.
- (0355ET/0755 GMT) Germany Markit Comp Final PMI Apr 56.30 previous.
- (0400 ET/0800 GMT) EZ Markit Services Final PMI Apr 56.20 previous.
- (0400 ET/0800 GMT) Norway Cenbank Rate Decision % N/A 0.50 previous.
- (0400 ET/0800 GMT) EZ Markit Comp Final PMI Apr 56.70 previous.
- (0430 ET/0830 GMT) UK Markit/CIPS Serv PMI Apr 54.50 previous.
- (0430 ET/0830 GMT) UK BOE Consumer Credit bln GB Mar 1.44 previous.
- (0430 ET/0830 GMT) UK Mortgage Approvals k Mar 68.32 previous.
- (0430 ET/0830 GMT) UK Mortgage Lending bln GB Mar 3.49 previous.
- (0430 ET/0830 GMT) UK M4 Money Supply % Mar -0.30 previous.
- (0500 ET/0900 GMT) EZ Retail Sales YY % Mar 1.80 previous.
- (0500 ET/0900 GMT) EZ Retail Sales MM % Mar 0.70 previous.
Key Events Ahead
- (0430 ET/0830 GMT) SPAIN 4Y E0.750B 0.750% 30/07/21 EUR4-5BN.
- (0430 ET/0830 GMT) SPAIN 5Y E1.500B 0.400% 30/04/22 TOTAL.
- (0430 ET/0830 GMT) SPAIN 9Y E1.000B 1.300% 31/10/26.
- (0430 ET/0830 GMT) SPAIN 16Y E1.500B 2.350% 30/07/33.
- (0450 ET/0850 GMT) FRANCE 10Y E4.500B 1.000% 25/05/27 EUR7BN.
- (0450 ET/0850 GMT) FRANCE 13Y E1.500B 2.500% 25/05/30 EUR8BN.
- (0450 ET/0850 GMT) FRANCE 19Y E2.000B 1.250% 25/05/36 TOTAL.
- (0450 ET/0850 GMT) UK 20Y 2.000B 1.750% 07/09/37 TAP.
FX Recap
USD: The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was up 0.1 percent on Thursday after rising 0.2 percent on Wednesday.
EUR/USD: The euro edged up 0.1 percent to $1.0895, regaining a bit of ground after falling 0.4 percent on Wednesday. The euro has lost some steam after scaling a 5-1/2 month high of $1.0951 last week, when it rallied on relief over centrist Emmanuel Macron's victory against anti-euro nationalist Marine Le Pen in the first round of France's presidential elections. The runoff vote is on May 7. An opinion poll showed that Macron was found more convincing than Le Pen in Wednesday's televised debate, reinforcing his status as favourite to win the second round of the election on Sunday.
USD/JPY: The Japanese yen weakens to 112.89 against U.S dollar. It’s strongest level in more than six weeks. Pair made intraday high at 112.89 and low at 112.59 levels. A sustained close above 112.73 is required to take the parity higher towards 113.72, 115.37 and 117.42 marks. Alternatively, a daily close below 112.00 will drag the parity down towards 108.13 levels.
GBP/USD: The sterling falls to the weekly low of $1.2861, down from $1.2947 beforehand. Pair remains well supported below $1.29 marks. Immediate resistance was seen at 1.2947 marks while support was seen at 1.2864 marks. A sustained close below $1.2860 will drag the parity down towards 1.2755 marks.
AUD/USD: The Australian dollar fell to four-month lows on Thursday. The Australian dollar skidded to $0.7408, its lowest since mid-January, having dropped around a U.S. cent and a half on Wednesday. It has lost 1 percent so far this week, largely due to a shakeout in Aussie long positions. Pair made intraday high at 0.7430 and low at 0.7405 marks. Intraday bias remains bearish till the time pair holds key resistance at 0.7555 marks. Key support was seen at 0.7405.
NZD/USD: The New Zealand dollar edged up to $0.6882, having recouped some losses from Wednesday's session when it shed 0.8 percent. Still, it was within reach of a 10-month trough of $0.6847 set last week. Immediate support was found at $0.6870 and resistance at this week's high of $0.6969.
Equities Recap
Hong Kong’s Hang seng was trading 0.40 percent lower at 24,596 points.
Australia’s S&P ASX200 was trading 0.60 percent lower at 5,857 points.
South Korea’s kospi was trading 0.66 percent higher at 2,233 points.
Shanghai composite index to open down 0.3 pct at 3,127.11 points and China's CSI300 index to open down 0.2 pct at 3,404.94 points.
Taiwan’s market was trading 0.01 percent lower at 9,955.98 points.
India’s NSE Nifty was trading around 0.40 percent higher at 9,349.90 points and BSE Sensex was trading at 0.45 percent higher at 30,030.01 points.
Commodities Recap
The benchmark Brent crude oil fell 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $50.64 a barrel by 0147 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 14 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $47.68 a barrel. While WTI hit its lowest since March 27 at $47.30 a barrel in the last session, Brent on Tuesday slid to its lowest since late March at $50.14 a barrel.
Gold inched up on Thursday, but the yellow metal held near a six-week low hit in the previous session as the dollar remained firm on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve may raise interest rates as early as June. Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,240.51 per ounce by 0245 GMT. It fell 1.5 percent in the previous session - its worst single-day drop since Nov. 23 - breaching both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Prices hit a low of $1,236.01 on Wednesday, a level not seen since March 21. U.S. gold futures dropped 0.6 percent to $1,241.20 an ounce.
Treasuries Recap
New Zealand government bonds eased, sending yields 3.5 basis points higher at the long end of the curve.
Australian government bond futures fell, with the three-year bond contract down 4 ticks at 98.110. The 10-year contract shed 4.5 ticks to 97.3350, while the 20-year contract was steady at 96.7550.
