Afternoon Market Update – 09/12/2016 – by Jaz Singh

After the moves instigated by the ECB, markets are relatively quiet today as the data slate is light in the lead up to the weekend. We’ve had some UK data this morning with trade balance improving and consumer inflation expectations coming in better than previous. This gave sterling some upside stimulus against some currencies but cable remains stuck in a range near the 1.26 handle. In more recent trade the Euro has extended its move seen yesterday after breaking the 1.06 level to the downside versus the dollar. The greenback has been strengthening after finding strong support at the 100.00 level on the dollar index, currently trading around the 101.50 level. In the equity space we find the European bourses back to the intraday highs seen yesterday with the DAX pushing towards the 11200 region. This bullish move in stocks has been exaggerated by gains in the commodity complex. WTI has gained some 1 percent today as Mexico and Oman begin negotiations with OPEC. Copper and aluminium have also been rising after Chinese inflation data came in at its best levels for 5 years. Data wise, the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index and US wholesale inventories are the only figures of note.