Asia
Asian markets continue in the green this morning, led by the Hang Seng’s 1.24% rise. China’s housing market continued to grow at a 5-month record pace, the price index up 10.7% annually. The Nikkei is down 0.80% after the head of Japan’s Iron & Steel Federation said the US-China trade war was impacting Japanese production. Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda told a BoJ conference yesterday that the friction is threatening the economy’s “moderate” growth, this as voices increase to increase monetary stimulus. Meanwhile, Australia’s Central Bank minutes overnight shows a willingness for further interest rate cuts, following June’s ¼% cut and the country’s house price index contracted by 3% QoQ – double the expected -1.6% – in the year’s first quarter.
Europe
European indexes straddled the 0-line yesterday, the Dax actually contracting by 0.09%, while the CAC40 stared with a 0.43% rise. After Italy’s report that public deficit would remain within the European Commission’s dictated 2% threshold, eyes are now on next year’s potential deviation.
US
Major US corporations yesterday appeared before a congressional committee to testify on the adverse effects of Trump’s China Trade War, as the administration prepares to levy tariffs on an additional $300bn worth of products. Many producers said that moving manufacturing to other locales was unfeasible. On the economic front, most analysts do not se an FOMC hike in the works tomorrow, despite Trump’s demands. Yesterday’s Empire State Manufacturing Index plunged to a 3-year low of -8.6 – its first decline in 6 months.
Commodities
After an overnight double top at 9400, bitcoin enthusiasts eagerly await a strong backwind today in the form of Facebook’s long-awaited publication of its Libra project white paper – the company’s new cryptocurrency platform. The news comes on the heels of the Ripple/MoneyGram agreement that will enable users in 200 countries to use the crypto for a proportion of the payment processor’s $600 bn-worth of transactions.
Economic Calendar
| TIME/PLACE | RELEASE/DATA |
|---|---|
| 09:00 AM GMT – Germany | ZEW Economic Sentiment & Current Situation (Jun) |
| 09:00 AM GMT – EU | Trade Balance (Apr), Consumer Price Index (May), and ZEW Economic Sentiment (Jun) |
| 12:30 PM GMT – US | Building Permits & Housing Starts (May). Redbook Index (Jun 14) at 12:55 |
| 12:30 PM GMT – Canada | Manufacturing Shipments (Apr) |
| 14:00 PM GMT – EU | BoE’s Governor Carney & ECB’s President Draghi speeches |
| 20:30 PM GMT – OIL | API Weekly Crude Oil Stock (Jun 14) |
| 22:45 PM GMT – NZ | Current Account – GDP Ratio (Q1) |
| 23:50 PM GMT – Japan | Merchandise Trade Balance, Imports & Exports (May) |
For more, visit our Economic Calendar
