Thursday, 7 September 2017

Stocks mixed in Asia ahead of ECB Draghi speech

Posted by Anonymous at 12:28 Labels:

Asian stocks were mixed on Thursday early trading hours, following a strong lead from Wall Street but remaining cautious ahead of ECB’s monetary policy meeting.

Overnight, US President Donald Trump unexpectedly split with his own GOP to back a package that included debt short-term ceiling extension and relief funding for hurricane Harvey.

Now it is up to Congress to decide whether to give a green light to the deal or not. The package only extends the debt ceiling for three-months, leaving the possible government shutdown for December. Some Republicans believe this resolution only empowers their counterparty.

In the light of this developments, which are seen as positive for Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher at 21,807, while the S&P 500 appointed a 0.31 percent gain and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.28 percent to finish at 6393.31.

Australia ASX +0.90 +0.02% 5,753.80 07:10 GMT - CLOSED
Shanghai Comp -21.67 -0.64% 3,363.72 07:10 GMT - CLOSED
Hang Seng Index -73.10 -0.26% 27,540.66 07:10 GMT - OPEN
Nikkei 225 +38.55 +0.20% 19,396.52 07:10 GMT - CLOSED
TSEC 50 Index -9.35 -0.09% 10,538.51 07:10 GMT - CLOSED

But that was all news coming in from Washington. The North Korea situation remains a top priority for US officials. President Trump said that military action against Pyongyang was “not his first choice, although he added “we’ll see what happens”.

A new draft resolution prepared by the United States for the UN Security Council was unveiled yesterday. The document asks the UNSC to freeze all assets of Kim Jong Un and including an oil embargo against North Korea.

The United States believes this matter should be addressed with stronger sanctions against the communist country. Meanwhile, China’s President Xi Jinping insists on talks.

In economic news, US trade deficit for July narrowed to $43.7 billion from an initially forecasted $44.6 billion. The Institute for Supply Management said its non manufacturing PMI for August came in at 55.3, falling short from a predicted reading of 55.4.

Ahead in today’s session, attention will be mainly directed to the European Central Bank monetary policy meeting and the statement of his president Mario Draghi.

Key economic events for Thursday, 7 September 2017:

07:30 GMT UK Halifax House Price Index (YoY) (Aug) Forecast: 2.1%
09:00 GMT EU GDP (YoY) (Q2) Forecast: 2.2%
09:00 GMT EU GDP (QoQ) (Q2) Forecast: 0.6%
11:45 GMT EU Deposit Facility Rate Forecast: -0.40%
11:45 GMT ECB Interest Rate Decision (Sep) Forecast: 0.00%
12:30 GMT US Initial Jobless Claims Forecast: 241K
12:30 GMT US Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ) (Q2) Forecast: 1.3%
12:30 GMT US Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) (Q2) Forecast: 0.3%
12:30 GMT ECB Press Conference  
15:00 GMT US Crude Oil Inventories Forecast: 4.022M
16:15 GMT FOMC Member Mester Speaks  
23:00 GMT FOMC Member Dudley Speaks  

Fort Financial Services

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