Morning Update – 05/04/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

Morning all.. Wall St recovered from early losses at the open to close up marginally as traders wait the Fed minutes and the Trump meeting with Xi. It was also pretty quiet in Asia with the Nikkei managing to close up 0.25% as USDJPY bounced away from 110.00 support. The Aussie recouped some of its declines triggered by a warning from the central bank that regulators are prepared to consider further measures to tame runaway house-price growth. Oil extended Tuesday’s advance. The TV debate between French presidential hopefuls extended beyond four hours on Tuesday night, covering topics from the nation’s debt to ethics. IFOP Poll: 1st round: Macron 25% (-1pp), Le Pen 25% (-0.5pp), Fillon 17.5% (+0.5pp); 2nd round: Macron 60.5%, Le Pen 39.5%. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell one basis point to 2.35 percent, after rising four basis points on Tuesday. Gold was little changed at $1,255.38 an ounce, after a three-day advance. UK Fin Min: there are some within UK’s governing party who oppose reaching an agreement with EU on Brexit deal. UK March BRC Shop PX Index: -0.8% vs Feb; -1% y/y. Fed’s Lacker (Non-Voter) in statement: revealed confidential FOMC information to Medley Global Advisors in October 2012; deeply regrets revealing FOMC information to Medley; disclosure was unintentional; decided to leave with immediate effect in light of disclosure.. Senior WH Official: Trump will discuss significant trade and economic concerns with China’s Xi in “candid and productive manner”; N. Korea issue is a ‘test’ for US/China relationship; no change in plans to deploy Thaad anti-missile system in S. Korea despite Chinese complaints. On the data front we saw Japan Mar Services PMI: 52.9 vs 51.3 prev; service sector expansion at 19-month high.. This morning we get services PMI data across Europe and the UK. Good luck..