Key Points
- Six new Corona Virus cases in Wuhan; U.S./Chinese tensions persist
- U.S. shares hit hard, Dollar comes off, commodities slightly firmer
- Gilead to make Corona Virus vaccine in 127 countries
Bias: Risk off
Commentary
U.S. shares traded sharply weaker overnight, weighed by a new cluster of six cases of Corona Virus in Wuhan. This comes after the Chinese province reported zero inflections for the last four weeks. Also weighing were continued tensions between China and the U.S. with reports that the Federal Retirement Thrift Board has been ordered not to invest in Chinese stocks.
The Dollar came back a bit overnight, pressured by profit taking after recent gains. All in all, however, most currency pairs remained within recent ranges.
Oil prices were slightly firmer overnight, despite reports of a build in private inventories. Meanwhile gold prices also rose, largely in line with the weaker Dollar.
Bias
A swag of data out today, although we think the bias will be largely to consolidating overnight moves. Japan will release its Current Account numbers, while Australian Westpac Consumer Sentiment and a rate announcement from the RBNZ are also due. Later today sees U.K. GDP and Industrial and Manufacturing Production while tonight sees U.S. PPI.