Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.26%, Shanghai Composite down 0.01%, Hang Seng up 0.97%, ASX up 0.72%
- Commodities : Gold at $1862.20 (+0.37%), Silver at $25.04 (+1.59%), Brent Oil at $50.82 (+0.12%), WTI Oil at $47.71 (+0.19%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 0.910, UK 10-year yield at 0.294, Germany 10-year yield at -0.596
News & Data:
- (EUR) French Flash Manufacturing PMI 51.1 vs 50 expected
- (EUR) French Flash Services PMI 49.2 vs 39.9 expected
- Softer contraction in French private sector activity during December
- Birmingham: WTO action to defend interests of Australia’s barley producers
Markets Update:
Asian stock markets are in positive territory on Wednesday following the overnight rally on Wall Street amid optimism about a new U.S. fiscal stimulus bill and progress in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has scheduled a meeting with other congressional leaders to discuss a relief package. In addition, shares of Apple’s suppliers in Asia advanced after the Nikkei reported that the tech giant plans to increase iPhone production by about 30 percent in the first half of 2021.
Mainland Chinese stocks bucked the overall trend as they dipped on the day, with the Shanghai composite fractionally lower while the Shenzhen component declined 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1%. In Japan, the Nikkei 22 and the Topix index both advanced 0.3%. In Australia, the ASX 200 jumped 0.7%.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to provide fresh guidance on its continued asset purchases as it concludes its two-day policy meeting later in the day. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.368 after seeing levels above 90.6 earlier in the week.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday amid easing concerns about the outlook for energy demand following the rollout of a coronavirus vaccine.
Upcoming Events:
- 08:30 AM GMT – (EUR) German Flash Manufacturing PMI
- 08:30 AM GMT – (EUR) German Flash Services PMI
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Flash Manufacturing PMI
- 09:00 AM GMT – (EUR) Flash Services PMI
- 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Flash Manufacturing PMI
- 09:30 AM GMT – (GBP) Flash Services PMI
- All Day – (All) OPEC-JMMC Meetings
- 01:30 PM GMT – (CAD) CPI m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Core Retail Sales m/m
- 01:30 PM GMT – (USD) Retail Sales m/m
- 02:45 PM GMT – (USD) Flash Manufacturing PMI
- 02:45 PM GMT – (USD) Flash Services PMI
- 07:00 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Economic Projections
- 07:00 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Statement
- 07:00 PM GMT – (USD) Federal Funds Rate
- 07:30 PM GMT – (USD) FOMC Press Conference
- 09:45 PM GMT – (NZD) GDP q/q
