Market Roundup
- Japan July unemployment 2.8%, jobs-applicants ratio 1.52, as eyed.
- Japan Jobs-applicants ratio best since Feb ’74, June 2.8%, 1.51.
- Japan July household spending -1.9% m/m, -0.2% y/y, -0.5% and +0.7% eyed.
- After North Korea move, US President Trump assures Japan PM Abe of 100% support.
- North Korea's "reckless" missile launch over Japan sharply escalates tensions.
- Japan Fin min Aso to meet US VP Pence in early Sept to discuss economy, trade.
- EU urges swifter Brexit talks as London seeks "flexibility".
- Peru sees 'ambitious' trade deal with Australia as early as 2018.
Economic Data Ahead
- (0430ET/0830 GMT) Hong Kong retail sales.
- (0800 ET/1200 GMT) Brazil PPI index.
Key Events Ahead
- (0505 ET/0905 GMT) Italy E6.0 bln for 6 month auction.
- (0530 ET/0930 GMT) Germany E5.0 bln for 2 year auction.
FX Recap
USD: The dollar's index against a basket of six major currencies was trading around 92.21 marks.
EUR/USD: The euro rises marginally against U.S. dollar and hits highest level since January 2015. Pair made intraday high at $1.1985 and low at $1.1955 levels. A sustained close above $1.1978 is requires for the upside rally. Alternatively, reversal from key resistance will drag the parity down towards $1.1758 marks. Immediate support was seen 1.1758 and resistance was seen at 1.2099 marks.
USD/JPY: The yen strengthens against U.S. dollar and was trading around 108.33 marks in early hours of Asia. The dollar hit a four-month low against the yen on Tuesday after North Korea fired a missile that passed over northern Japan, the latest act of provocation by Pyongyang that has ramped up global tensions. Pair made intraday high at 109.25 and low at 108.33 levels. A sustained close above 109.25 is required to take the parity higher towards 110.36, 111.33, 112.20, 113.12, 115.37 and 117.42 marks. Alternatively, a daily close below 109.00 will drag the parity down towards 105.55 levels.
GBP/USD: The pound was marginally higher against the dollar at $1.2947. Pair made intraday high at $1.2953 and low at $1.2921 mark. A sustained close above $1.2931 will take the parity higher towards $1.3022 marks. Alternatively, reversal from key resistance will take the parity down towards $1.2773 marks.
AUD/USD: The Australian dollar rose 0.05 percent to $0.7938, as the U.S. dollar fell against a basket of currencies and hit multi-year lows against the euro, while the New Zealand dollar was poised for its biggest monthly drop since January 2016.
NZD/USD: The New Zealand dollar was broadly steady at $0.7237. It came under pressure last week when the New Zealand government downgraded the country's growth outlook for this fiscal year and next.
Equities Recap
Japan’s Nikkei was trading 0.49 pct lower at 19,355.25 points.
Hong Kong’s Hang seng was trading 0.41 percent lower at 27,744.29 points.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading 0.87 pct lower at 5,660.50 points.
Shanghai composite index to open flat at 3,362.06 points and China's CSI300 index to open down 0.1 pct at 3,839.18 points.
Taiwan stock was trading around 0.32 pct lower at 10,492.32 points.
India’s NSE Nifty was trading around 0.85 percent lower at 9,828.15 points and BSE Sensex was trading at 0.75 percent lower at 31,511.25 points.
South Korea’s kospi was trading 0.60 percent lower at 2,356.22 points.
Commodities Recap
Flooding from tropical storm Harvey caused ongoing large-scale U.S. refinery outages on Tuesday, while crude prices rose on the back of supply disruptions in Colombia and Libya. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $46.80 a barrel, after falling more than 2 percent in the previous session. On international oil markets, Brent crude futures were up 20 cents or 0.4 percent, at $52.09 per barrel.
Gold prices rose for a third day on Tuesday to its highest since November as mounting geopolitical tensions over a new North Korea missile launch stoked demand for safe-haven assets and weighed heavily on the dollar and equities. Spot gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,316.90 per ounce by 0314 GMT, after earlier touching its highest since Nov. 9 at $1,322.33. Gold gained 1.4 percent in the previous session in its biggest one-day percentage rise since mid-May. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up 0.6 percent to $1,322.80 per ounce.
Treasuries Recap
New Zealand government bonds were lower across maturities, with the 10-year bond yield up slightly at 2.92 percent.
Australian government bond futures slipped, with the three-year bond contract down 2 ticks at 98.000. The 10-year contract was off 2 ticks at 97.3450.
U.S. 10-year treasury yield held at 2.128 pct vs U.S. close of 2.159 pct on Monday.
