There
were some swings in major FX, albeit
in limited ranges. Net for the session the US dollar gained a little.
US equity index futures lost some ground on Globex after having
dropped for a second day during US time on Wednesday. As
tensions surrounding still-high inflation in the US rise, Goldman
Sachs added in another FOMC rate hike to its outlook (see bullets
above) and
Nomura
and
Natwest have
beefed up their
forecasts
also. Analysts
at those two banks are now
projecting a +50bp rate hike from the Fed at the meeting on the 21st
and 22nd this
month.
There
was some eye-popping data from Australia today. Monthly building
approvals can be a volatile data series, with substantial swings as
multi-unti approvals come and go. Today was a stand out though.
January approvals dropped 27-odd per cent on the month. The previous
month was +18%, so, yeah, the data is choppy. Still, today’s result
was the worst for 10 years and the fifth consecutive monthly decline.
The trend is firmly lower for this data series, Reserve Bank of
Australia rate hikes and pressured house prices weighing.
Asian
equity markets:
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-
Japan’s
Nikkei 225 -0.1% -
China’s
Shanghai Composite +0.18% -
Hong
Kong’s Hang Seng -0.5% -
South
Korea’s KOSPI +0.9% -
Australia’s
S&P/ASX 200 basically flat
USD/JPY inched higher
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