The financial markets are generally mixed today. News regarding US-China trade negotiation are generally positive with even speculations that a Trump-Xi summit could be announced as soon as today. But they provide no additional lift to market sentiments. Meanwhile, the meeting between UK Prime Minister Theresa May yielded no conclusive results. Meanwhile, it should be noted that economic data have been rather bad so far. For example, just released, German factory orders dropped sharply by -4.2% mom in February. Sentiments could turn sour again if more data disappointment come in.
In the currency markets, Sterling is broadly higher today so far. But again, the Pound is just staying in familiar range against Dollar, Euro and Yen, and there is no sign of a breakout yet. New Zealand Dollar and Yen are the next strongest. Canadian Dollar is currently the weakest one for today, followed by Dollar.
In Asia:
- Nikkei closed up 0.05.
- Hong Kong HSI is down -0.53%.
- China Shanghai SSE is up 0.65%.
- Singapore Strait Times is up 0.14%.
- Japan 10-year JGB yield is up 0.0073 at -0.043, staying negative.
Overnight:
- DOW rose 0.15%.
- S&P 500 rose 0.21%.
- NASDAQ rose 0.60%.
- 10-year yield rose 0.036 to 2.517, back above 2.5 handle.
