Asian stocks trade higher on Thursday

Good Morning,

- The dollar lost more ground and stepped back further from a 4-1/2-year peak hit on Monday. The dollar index stood at 87.634 versus Monday's peak of 88.440.

- Asian stocks trade higher on Thursday as the prospect of further stimulus from central banks in the region and Europe support the risk appetite mood.

- S&P and Dow Jones closing at new records despite disappointing U.S. economic data.

- Many markets saw subdued trading on Thursday as U.S. financial markets are shut for Thanksgiving Day. All eyes today on oil markets were rattled after OPEC signaled that it would hold off making any major production cuts this week. OPEC Gulf Arab oil producers have reached a consensus not to cut oil output when OPEC meets on Thursday, a Gulf Arab OPEC delegate told Reuters.

- U.S. crude futures fell more than 1 percent to $72.15 per barrel, their lowest since September 2010. Brent crude fell more than 2 percent to $75.50.

- US Durable goods orders, a measure of business spending plans, fell for a second straight month, consumer spending rose less than expected and new home sales also unexpectedly fell, data showed yesterday.

- The disappointing data push down U.S. debt yields, with 10-year notes yield hitting a five-week low of 2.229 percent on Wednesday.

- Vitor Constancio, the central bank's vice president, said on Wednesday the ECB might decide to do so as early as the first quarter of next year, in the clearest indication yet from an ECB policymaker on the timing of any quantitative easing. He also suggested the ECB is likely to buy government bonds broadly in proportion to the size of the euro zone's 18 economies.

- For Mario Draghi to start quantitative easing, he still has to nail down what action to take, let alone if and when. With a newly drafted stimulus-shopping list likely to include bonds issued by companies, European agencies and governments, the ECB president is corralling his colleagues on an asset-buying strategy. A speech by Draghi in Helsinki today caps a week of positioning from policy makers still at odds on how to respond to feeble inflation. With the Governing Council’s spectrum of opinion ranging from ‘there’s no need yet’ to ‘we’re already late,’ Draghi’s first task is to gauge support for each type of potential purchase.

- Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has said the tenor of economic data will decide when the U.S. central bank raises interest rates. Surprisingly, a data analysis based on Yellen's own priorities points to a rate increase by the end of this year. Yellen has cautioned that the economic models built for policymakers amount to mere guideposts in a complicated decision-making process. But she also has placed special emphasis on a set of equations for what she dubbed in a November 2012 speech as "optimal policy" or "optimal control."

- The New Zealand dollar touched a fresh four-month high against the Australian dollar after the Aussie broke through a key support level amid speculation the country's central bank may cut interest rates to bolster the economy.

- Watch today: German jobless, EU money, German mood.

Have a nice Day !