Morning Update – 31/07/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal
July 31, 2017Morning all.. Wall St was looking rather shakey on Friday, especially tech stocks but yet again a late rally saved the day with the S&P down 0.13% and NASDAQ down just 0.12% by the close. Asia had a quiet session with a late rally seeing the Nikkei close unchanged. To start off the week most G10 majors were weaker against the USD with USDCAD being the biggest mover up 0.3%. JPY was the only currency overnight that strengthened against the USD surpassing the 110.50 mark after industrial output data showed industrial production has moved into expansion. Option related bids at 110.00 but a big break for longs if we do dip below 110.00. AUD dipped 0.5% overnight after it is suggested that building permits in Australia shrank in June and Chinese data was a little soft. Chinese July manufacturing PMI missed: 51.4 vs 51.5 cons-Chinese July non-manufacturing PMI missed: 54.5 vs 54.9 cons. In other asset classes the US 10yr treasury yield was up 1bp trading at 2.28%. Equities ticked higher supported by gains in the financial services sector. In commodities Iron-ore traded to 4-month highs after China construction activity was at its highest in 3 and a half years, Brent continues to trade above $52 a barrel. Geopolitical tensions dominated the news as the world responds to another missile launch by North Korea. American B-1B bombers have joined military exercises in South Korea, one day after North Korea fired another ICBM that proved it has the capacity to strike America’s mainland. This morning we get UK Mortgage data and EU CPI and unemployment data.. Good luck.
