Good morning! Another day... light volumes at the moment with a US holiday looming - many traders off already to make it an extra long weekend. Elli. Markets Overnight Asian markets were higher yesterday following on from the good lead from the US close, but geopolitical tensions are still in focus after Israel and militant groups in Gaza agreed to halt fighting for the moment. Talks between Russian president and Ukrainian president have not generated any outcome other than both sides agreeing that the fighting needs to stop. The Nikkei closed up 0.1% bouncing between gains and losses in the afternoon and briefly hitting a one week low at one point in the day. The strength in the yen also helped keep the Nikkei from rising after it fell further from yesterdays high. Shanghai recovered to close higher by 0.1% after falling to a two-week closing low yesterday. The ASX closed at a six-year high yesterday, up 0.2%, although gains were limited with several stocks trading ex-dividend, and the Kospi closed 0.3% higher at a new one-week high rising for a third day running. European markets closed flat overnight with the cloud looming over whether Draghi and the ECB will introduce more stimulus measures at the next ECB meeting. The German economy continues to show signs of slowing with the GfK consumer climate survey showing a fall in morale for the first time in more than 1 and 1/2 years, and was the biggest drop in more than three years, coming in well below forecast. European company results continue to show signs of being hurt by the ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine. French stocks underperformed slightly as the French government reshuffled parliament, replacing the economy minister. Germanys finance minister, Wolfgang Schaueble, told a newspaper Wednesday that Draghis comments had been over-interpreted after suggesting that fiscal policy could play a greater role in promoting growth. In other reports, Reuters cited ECB sources who said the bank is unlikely to embark on QE at its meeting next week unless August inflation figures due on Friday show the Euro zone is moving closer toward deflation. This gave the Euro a bounce. US markets were largely unchanged overnight, although the S&P did manage to close at another record high above the 2000 level. The Dow closed up 0.09%, the S&P up 0.01% and the Nasdaq closed slightly lower down 0.02%. Events in the Ukraine continue to dominate with the U.S. State Department saying Russia had sent additional tanks and armoured vehicles into Ukraine. The Obama administration believes this to be a new military counteroffensive. The dollar held steady, Crude oil futures rose, gold futures fell and the 10-year Treasury note fell 4 basis points. Volumes are low with many traders on vacation ahead of the Labor Day long weekend in the US. Major news today includes AUD, EUR and USD.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 00:30:58 +0000
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