Key Points
- U.S. stocks opened weaker, then bounced strongly on buying of financial stocks
- Trump: Supports a strong U.S. Dollar
- Mexico cuts interest rates 50bps
Bias: Risk on
Commentary
U.S. stocks opened on the offer again last night, with Initial Claims printing at 2.98mln. The market then bounced hard, led by banking stocks and in particular Wells Fargo, which rose 6.78% on the day on short covering. This saw the largest intra-day bounce on U.S. stocks in more than two months.
The Big Dollar rose slightly on the day, with as light drifting bid emerging against most of its counterparties. The big was prompted by U.S. President Trump saying he supported a strong Dollar. USD/MXN was hit hard on Mexico cutting interest rates by 50bps.
Oil rose on news of continued and further production cuts, while gold prices also rose nearly 1.5%.
Bias
Expect Friday-itis to dominate trade today, with a very mixed week providing a lack of fresh incentives into the close. Today sees Japanese PPI and Chinese Retail Sales, Unemployment and Industrial Production in Asia, while Europe will see German and French GDP and Euro-zone Unemployment. Tonight sees U.S. Retail Sales and the Empire State Manufacturing Index.