Markets stay calm on lack of fundamentals
- ANZ Job advertisements m/m 0.4% vs. 3.8% previously
- Japan average cash earnings y/y 0.6% vs. 0.5%
- German trade balance 19.4bn vs. 20.3bn
- Eurozone Sentix investor confidence 15.1 vs. 12.4
- Canada Housing starts 198k vs. 200k
Later
- US Labor Market Conditions Index
Following Friday’s strong NFP numbers, the US Dollar remained well supported into today’s trading session. The lack of any major fundamentals to go by saw the markets broadly take a pause across the board with the currency markets staying flat for the most of Asian and European trading sessions as the US Dollar posted soft declines.
In the Asian session, the ANZ job advertisements saw a month over month rise of 0.4%, down from 3.8% growth seen previously. The Australian dollar is up 0.15% for the day after the Aussie opened the day on a lower note leaving a gap which was quickly filled. AUDUSD is trading near the daily highs of 0.705 at the time of writing.
The Kiwi is also up 0.26% for the day after posting a session high to 0.6558 before easing back softly lower. The Kiwi still remains in the downtrend is trading within Friday’s range.
The Japanese Yen is up 0.27% for the day trading near a two month high at 123.5. Prices have been largely flat in USDJPY today with no clear bias as of yet. The Yen however remains weak across the board. The Asian equity markets were mixed with the Nikkei gaining 1.96% for the day along with the Shanghai Composite which rallied 1.59% but the Hang Seng Index closed with -0.61% declines.
The European session was also void of any major economic releases with the German trade balance data and the Eurozone Sentix investor confidence which picked up to 15.1. The Euro was well supported in today’s trading despite the lack of any fundamentals to go by.
Over the weekend San Francisco Fed President, John Williams noted that the October rate decision was a close call and the current market expectations are pricing in a 68% chance for a rate hike. EURUSD traded near session highs of 1.085 before easing back lower.
The Cable is also up 0.22% for the day as the GBPUSD managed to recover off the lows near 1.503 from Friday to post a session high to 1.509 before falling back within range. The European markets were also down as the German DAX and the FTSE are currently trading -0.32% and -0.08% lower for the day as concerns on the export numbers from China released over the weekend showed a fourth straight month of declines.
In the US trading session, Canadian housing starts numbers printed 198k missing estimates of 200k. However the Canadian dollar trading broadly stronger as USDCAD fell -0.13% to session lows of 1.325 before managing to recover. Data from the US is quiet today with the exception of the Labour market conditions index. US equity futures are pointing to a lower open with the Dow, S&P500 and the NASDAQ all trading lower.
