Afternoon Market Update – 31/10/16 – by Jaz Singh
October 31, 2016The major data this morning came from the Eurozone in the form of CPI and GDP data. All metrics came in line with expectations hence market reaction has been subdued. We’ve seen big moves to the upside in rand as South Africa’s chief prosecutor dropped charges of fraud against the country’s finance minister. Dollar has regained most of its losses from Friday following the disclosure of further FBI probes into Clinton’s emails. USDMXN is back to the 18.90 region following highs of 19.10 late Friday. Stocks were also influenced by these FBI revelations but equity futures point to a rebound at the US cash open. European bourses are negative across the board in response to declines in the price of oil. WTI has closed the gap before retreating towards its intraday low of 48.20. Discussions over the weekend did not yield a conclusion on oil output cuts; further downside is favored until we receive confirmation of an agreement. However FTSE remains on target for its 5th month of gains in the light of positive news from WPP and a rally in banking and mining stocks. We now look to consumption data from the US this afternoon and Chicago PMI for October.
