Sentiment remained positive toward stock markets, particularly in the US where the Dow, S&P and NASDAQ all broke out to new all-time highs but the Russel 2000 continued to struggle with 1,400. There wasn’t much in the way of economic news so traders continued to focus on anticipation of tax reform.
Also, some of the recent political concerns surrounding trade continued to ease a bit with a positive summit meeting between President Trump and Japanese PM Abe followed on with a drama-free meeting between President Trump and Canadian PM Trudeau. Considering the amount of trade the US conducts with these two countries no surprises and most importantly, no fireworks, has been seen as a positive by traders. CAD picked up following the summit as the risk of a trade war sideswiping Canada had been a risk overhanging the loonie in recent weeks.
Economic data from around the world kicks back in today with inflation reports due from China, the UK, US and Germany plus a number of GDP reports out of Europe led by Germany and Greece. Rising inflation could stymie the remaining dovish central banks and could force others to take a more hawkish turn so these reports could have a significant impact on currency trading.
During the US trading day, all eyes are likely to be on Fed Chair Yellen’s first testimony to the congress since the change in control. Having been dovish to date, and entering the last year of her term with a renewal unlikely, it remains to be seen if she is actually going to take the hawkish turn the street has priced into the US Dollar or not.
Copper and other base metals have continued to climb today. Swings in commodity prices could hae a significant impact on resource stocks and Australia trading today.
Corporate News
There have been no major announcements after the US close today.
Economic News
Significant announcements released overnight include:
There were no major economic announcements in North America or Europe today.
Upcoming significant economic announcements include:
(Note: 11:30 am in Sydney/Melbourne is currently 1:30 pm in Auckland, 4:30 pm in Vancouver, 7:30 pm in Toronto/Montréal, 12:30 am in London and 8:30 am in Singapore)
7:30 am AEDT NZ house sales previous (10.7%)
8:45 am AEDT NZ food prices previous (0.8%)
12:30 pm AEDT China consumer prices street 2.4% vs previous 2.1%
12:30 pm AEDT China producer prices street 6.5% vs previous 5.5%
3:30 pm AEDT Japan industrial production previous 3.0%
7:00 am GMT Germany GDP street 1.4%
7:00 am GMT Germany consumer prices street 1.9%
9:00 am GMT Italy GDP street 1.0%
9:30 am GMT UK consumer prices street 1.9% vs previous 1.6%
9:30 am GMT UK core CPI street 1.7%
9:30 am GMT UK retail prices street 2.8% vs previous 2.5%
9:30 am GMT UK producer input prices street 18.5% vs previous 15.8%
9:30 am GMT UK producer output prices street 3.2% vs previous 2.7%
9:30 am GMT UK house prices street 6.5%
10:00 am GMT Eurozone industrial production street 1.7%
10:00 am GMT Eurozone GDP street 1.8%
10:00 am GMT Greece GDP previous 1.6%
8:30 am EST US producer prices street 1.5%
8:50 am EST FOMC Lacker speaking
10:00 am EST FOMC Yellen testimony
1:00 pm EST FOMC Kaplan speaking
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