Morning Update – 24/04/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

Morning all.. Wall St closed quietly as most were waiting to see how the first round of the French Presidential vote went and as of now it looks like a two-way run-off between Macron and Le Pen and one that is suggested to secure Macron as the new President. This has been seen as a large risk being removed and stocks and all risk assets have rallied. The EUR was a clear winner but also USDJPY and the rally here helping push the Nikkei up nearly 1.5% but some caution as Shanghai is down over 1.25%. USDJPY made a high close to 110.58 and EUR a high of 1.0921. EURJPY (a risk barometer) rallied to 120.79 at one point but a serious round of profit taking and some fears over Chinese stocks are pushing risk assets back lower as we head into the European open. Gold fell but the dollar was mixed but EUR crosses surged. Oil is unchanged and US 10yr yields rose to above 2.30%. This was a clear risk on move overnight and it will be interesting to see how Europe closes today. In the UK we saw UK Rightmove April House Prices: 1.1% m/m vs 1.3% prior, 2.2% y/y vs 2.3% prior; London April prices posted largest annual decline in nearly 8.. In geo-politics; N. Korea (local newspaper Rodong Sinmun): revolutionary forces are combat ready to sink US aircraft carrier with a single strike; such a strike would be an example of our military’s force.. Japan Official: Trump/Abe agreed China must play a large role over N. Korea; will strongly demand that N. Korea show restraint; will maintain close contact with US and high level of monitoring on N. Korea.. Elsewhere Iran Oil Min: should not be hopeful about oil px above $60/bbl for the time being; OPEC/non-OPEC producers signals indicate plans to control supply and support price. A busy week ahead with tier1 US data and BOJ and ECB meetings but today the main data event this morning is the German IFO business climate. Good luck..