Key Points
- U.S. data broadly better than expected
- Equities surge, oil firmer, USD and gold weaker
- Bank of Canada leaves rates unchanged
Bias: Risk on
Commentary
U.S. stocks shrugged off continued civil unrest in the U.S. to instead focus on better than expected ADP Non-Farm Employment and Non-Manufacturing ISM numbers. The gains were across the board with the NASDAQ now within 2% of its historical high.
The USD gave back a little bit of ground overnight, pressured on the move back into “risk” currencies amid the better than expected U.S. economic data. The Kiwi was the best performing currency on the day. In other news the Bank of Canada left rates unchanged, as expected.
Oil prices continued to grind higher on the day, on news that BP have begun to evacuate workers in the Gulf of Mexico amid the impending storm. Gold prices remained heavy.
Bias
Expect a consolidation of the overnight moves in Asia today, with local players expected to mark new levels and wait for fresh incentives. Data today sees Australian Trade and Retail Sales, along with a rate decision from the ECB (no change expected) and U.S. Initial Claims and Trade numbers.