Morning Update – 11/07/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

Morning all.. Wall St had a quiet but steady session in the absence of any data and the S&P closed up 0.09% and NADAQ up 0.38%. The Nikkei was also stronger, up 0.55% as USDJPY held onto gains. Japanese and South Korean markets rose with volumes nearly a third below average, while Australia’s benchmark gave up earlier gains. FX markets were confined to tight ranges but USDJPY broke initial resistance at 114.37 but could not break through the reported offers at 114.50 so far. The kiwi slid after New Zealand spending data missed forecasts and the yen was also lower. Bonds softened, extending a slump triggered by more hawkish rhetoric from central banks. With global equities remaining near all-time highs, scrutiny turns to corporate results. PepsiCo Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are reporting this week. investors will hear from U.S. policy maker Lael Brainard on Today in a speech focused on normalization of central bank balance sheets, and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress is Wednesday. The Bank of Canada announces its interest-rate decision tomorrow, with a hike expected by most analysts. All in all a very quiet Asian session with oil a tad higher.. Whilst we have no data of note this morning we do get some important speakers talking through the day. BoE’s Haldane and Andy Broadbent to name a couple and GBP traders will be keen to hear what they have to say on recent hawkishness from MPC members. We also have ECB’s Coeure speaking. Markets are likely to be on hold waiting for them to start with Haldane penciled in for 10:00 London time but due to speak shortly now we hear.. Good luck.