Entering into European session, Australian Dollar is the weakest one for today, followed by New Zealand Dollar. The Aussie is weighed down by much weaker than expected Q4 GDP growth, at 0.2% qoq. Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg attributed the slowdown to drought. RBA Governor Philip Lowe also maintained upbeat view on the outlook. But today’s data further affirm market expectations that the next move is a cut, and could happen as soon as in August.
Sterling is the third weakest as there was no UK Attorney General Geoffrey Cox’s trip to Brussels produced no breakthrough on Irish backstop. Yen, Dollar and Swiss are the strongest ones. Looking ahead, the European session is relatively empty today. BoE Cunliffe’s speech may catch some attention. Focus will mainly be on BoC rate decision and US ADP employment.
In Asia:
- Nikkei closed down -0.60%.
- Hong Kong HSI is up 0.19%.
- China Shanghai SSE is up 0.33%.
- Singapore Strait Times is up 0.01%.
- Japan 10-year JGB yield is down -0.0134 at -0.005, turned negative again.
Overnight:
- DOW dropped -0.05%.
- S&P 500 dropped -0.11%.
- NASDAQ dropped -0.02%.
- 10-year yield closed flat at 2.722.
