Morning Update – 20/04/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

Morning all.. Wal St had a very mixed session with techs doing well but the Dow down 0.58% as banks and energy firms moved lower. The S&P was stuck in the middle closing down just 0.17%. Overall though it was a quiet US session. Over in Asia we saw the Nikkei finish close to unchanged in a very quiet session and Chinese stocks were marginally firmer. FX markets were rather quiet but NZD rallied on stronger CPI data.. Japan Fin Min: must eventually raise tax/cut healthcare and pension payments; must pursue steps to raise inflation and reduce Japan’s huge public debt; no quick solution to fix Japan’s finances; cannot abandon fiscal discipline, would trigger unwelcome inflation that hurts public; seeing improvements in private consumption, will help inflation accelerate in H2; economic improvements making it more feasible to raise consumption tax. GBP remains in demand on dips. US House Speaker Ryan: US ready to forge new bilateral trade deal with UK ASAP; budget next week will include renewed commitment to national security; would like to complete tax reform by end of summer.. Fed’s Rosengren: gradual increases in rates remains likely; Fed should shed bonds relatively soon with little effect on rate hikes; backs shrinking bond portfolio earlier but very gradually; should first shed only small percentage of maturing bonds; portfolio reduction should maintain policy accommodation, reinforce primacy of rates tool.. This morning we only get EU Construction output so a quiet morning expected..Good luck.