Market News Today – USD up from 1-month lows (USDIndex 92.00 from 91.75 Friday) – Chinese & Asian stock markets rise, despite weak Chinese PMI & other Asian data. US equity markets closed lower on Friday (-0.54% USA500 4395) led by -7.56% fall for AMZN. Yields closed the week down at 1.239%. Overnight – HSBC beat earnings significantly, adding to good news from other European banks. AUD housing market still hot, JPY consumer confidence ticks up, German Retail sales bounce back significantly. Gold down again at 1808, USOil also down, but up from a test of 72.00, earlier.
Week Ahead – Another key week to start the month – RBA, BoE, CAD Jobs, NFP & a raft of PMI data.
European Open – DAX & FTSE 100 futures up 0.5% & 0.4% respectively, US futures posting gains of 0.5-0.6% after an upbeat session across Asia-Pacific region overnight. In FX markets both EUR & GBP little changed against USD, with EURUSD at 1.1873 & Cable at 1.3909. China jitters eased & there was some progress on the (much reduced) US infrastructure spending plan, which helped underpin sentiment. Virus developments in Asia continue to cause worries, but for Europe, at least the hope is that advanced vaccination campaigns will allow economies to get through this wave without the type of restrictions that could seriously hurt the recovery. Central banks are cautious though as there are still lingering risks that will likely also keep the BoE in wait & see mode this week.
Today – EU, UK, US Manufacturing PMI (Final), US ISM Manufacturing PMI Earnings: AXA, Heineken.
Biggest FX Mover @ (06:30 GMT) AUDNZD (+0.19%) Has moved up from 1.0517 (2021 and 33 week lows) on Friday. Weak breach of 21 EMA earlier, Faster MA’s aligned higher, MACD signal line & histogram under 0 line but moving higher, RS 55, neutral but rising, Stochs rising and already into OB zone. H1 ATR 0.0008, Daily ATR 0.0051.
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