Forex Today witnessed a quieter start to a new week than expected on the back of the weekend’s US-led coordinated airstrikes on the Syrian chemical weapons facilities. Investors gear up for the gaps on the charts across the fx board amid Syria strikes induced risk-aversion, but to their surprise, mild risk-on sentiment emerged at Asia open, as the Asian equities swayed higher.
However, towards the Asia closing, a sense of calm set into the markets, with most major Asian markets steadying amid a drop in oil prices and China stocks while the safe-havens Yen and gold picked-up some strength. A minor turnaround in risk condition could be due to increased nervousness ahead of the European open. The Antipodeans traded mixed, with the Kiwi on the back foot, despite upbeat NZ macro releases.
Main topics in Asia
Risk tone: well, so far so good, just another attack on Syria, market moves on . . .
There were three targets hit over the weekend, in a decision lead by the US president, Donald Trump, with backing from the UK and France. More than 100 missiles were fired against what they say were Syrian chemical weapons facilities.
US ambassador Nikkei Haley: new sanctions on Russia to come Monday
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Sunday said that further sanctions are due for Russia from the US.
Russia's Putin: global "chaos" if Syria struck again - Reuters
Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, announced on Sunday that any further strikes on Syria would further destabilize global talks, as reported by Reuters.
UK consumer spending in the first quarter fell by most in over five quarter
The inflation-adjusted UK consumer spending fell 1.4 percent year-on-year in the first three months of 2018 - the worst quarterly performance since the fourth quarter of 2012, according to Visa's UK Consumer Spending Index.
Asian shares rise as investors see Syria strikes as "one-off event"
Asian equities are a picture of calm as investors are taking heart from the fact that so far Russia has not responded to the Us-led missile strike on Syria.
US re-entry to the TPP will carry a cost - WSJ
As reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the US' hopeful re-entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership will carry a cost.
Japan’s Kono: need to rethink Japan-China relationship
The Japanese Foreign Minister Kono was out on the wires last hour, via Reuters, commenting on Japan-China relationship, as both the countries hold their first high-level economic talks in 8 years in Tokyo today.
OPEC oil production fell by 200,000 bpd In March
OPEC crude oil production dropped just over 200,000 barrels per day in March to a daily average of 31.96 million barrels.
Key Focus ahead
We have a quiet start to the EU calendar this week, with the only Swiss PPI figures due to be reported at the European open. Meanwhile, the second-tier German WPI will be released in the early trades.
The US docket has a plenty of macro news due on the cards, with the key US retail sales and Empire State manufacturing index likely to hog the limelight among other minority reports. Besides, the FOMC member Bostic’s speech will also remain in focus ahead of the US TIC Long-Term Purchases data.
Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions will continue to influence the risk trends, as markets digest the US-led airstrikes on Syria over the weekend.
EUR/USD: mixed start to the week, eyes on politics
EUR/USD has been up to test the 100 hourly rising SMA at 1.2343 with a mixed start to the week in terms of risk sentiment. The Syrian risk was shelved to begin with, treated as old news while …
GBP/USD looking for the 1.43 handle as the week opens risk-on
Markets opened on a fairly positive note following revelations that the US is unlikely to devote resources for a protracted campaign in Syria, and markets have kicked off the new week by easing back and allowing risk appetite to seep back in.
US: Headline retail sales seen around 0.4% In March - Westpac
Analysts at Westpac offer a sneak peek at what to expect from today’s US retail sales data slated for release at 1230 GMT.
The week ahead: plenty of key data to chew on - Nomura
Analysts at Nomura offered their outlook for the week ahead with respect to the data calendar.
Thursday’s Australian labour report will be the local highlight for FX markets
Tuesday will bring the Q1 GDP report in Australia’s largest trading partner. The Chinese economy is expected to have grown at an annualized pace of 6.8% in the first quarter, whilst we’ll also see monthly data on retail sales, industrial production and fixed investment.
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EUR/USD treads water just above 1.0400 post-US data
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GBP/USD remains depressed near 1.2520 on stronger Dollar
Poor results from the UK docket kept the British pound on the back foot on Thursday, hovering around the low-1.2500s in a context of generalized weakness in the risk-linked galaxy vs. another outstanding day in the Greenback.
Gold keeps the bid bias unchanged near $2,700
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Geopolitics back on the radar
Rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine caused renewed unease in the markets this week. Putin signed an amendment to Russian nuclear doctrine, which allows Russia to use nuclear weapons for retaliating against strikes carried out with conventional weapons.
Eurozone PMI sounds the alarm about growth once more
The composite PMI dropped from 50 to 48.1, once more stressing growth concerns for the eurozone. Hard data has actually come in better than expected recently – so ahead of the December meeting, the ECB has to figure out whether this is the PMI crying wolf or whether it should take this signal seriously. We think it’s the latter.
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