RunningMoney

The ASX 200 is up 46 points in late-morning trade. Banks rally, Healthcare drags. ISU ACCC proceedings. NVT FIRB approval, Chinese trade and RBA stability today, employment next week #ausbiz

TODAY

• RBA Financial Stability Review
• Chinese data Balance of Trade, Exports, Imports, FDI

TONIGHT

• European data – Industrial Production, Industrial Production
• US earnings – JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC)
• US economic data – import prices, export prices, Uni of Michigan consumer sentiment

 

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NEXT WEEK

It’s a shorter trading week due to Easter.

• Domestically – Employment data, RBA meeting minutes, Westpac leading index,
• China – GDP, retail sales, industrial production, fixed asset investment
• Japanese – inflation
• UK – employment data, inflation, retail sales
• European – Trade data, inflation, Markit PMIs

US Earnings

• Monday15 April – Citigroup ©, Goldman Sachs (GS)
• Tuesday 16 April – Bank of America (BAC), BlackRock (BLK), Charles Schwab (SCHW), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), UnitedHealth (UNH), After The Close – CSX, IBM, Netflix (NFLX)
• Wednesday 17 April – BNY Mellon (BK), Ericsson (ERIC), Morgan Stanley (MS), PepsiCo (PEP), U.S. Bancorp (USB), After The Close – Alcoa (AA)
• Thursday 18 April – American Express (AXP), Blackstone (BX), Manpower (MAN)

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OVERNIGHT

SPI FUTURES +21

US EQUITIES – S&P 500 +0 (+0.00%), Dow -14 (-0.05%), NASDAQ -17 (-0.21%)

Main themes

• Small moves ahead of earnings season

EUROPEAN MARKETS – Mostly higher. STOXX600 +0.06%, UK FTSE -0.05%, German DAX +0.25%, French CAC +0.66%.

CURRENCIES

• The USD is stronger at 97.17
• The Aussie dollar is weaker at US71.71.

BONDS – 2-yr: +4 bps to 2.35%, 3-yr: +4 bps to 2.31%, 5-yr: +4 bps to 2.32%, 10-yr: +3 bps to 2.50%, 30-yr: +3 bps to 2.94%

COMMODITIES

• Oil – WTI futures closed down 1.6% at US$63.58
• Iron Ore – IRESS reports that iron ore was down US$1.50 at US$95.00. CommSec reports iron ore was up US70c or 0.7% to U$95.00.
• LME metals – Mixed. Copper -0.34%, nickel -0.23%, aluminium -0.61%

ECONOMIC DATA, NEWS & POLITICS

• US economic data – Weekly Initial Claims 196,000 (consensus 215,000; prior 204,000), Continuing Claims 1.713m; prior 1.726m), March PPI 0.6% (consensus 0.3%; prior 0.1%), and Core PPI 0.3% (consensus 0.2%; prior 0.1%)
• Fed speak – St Louis Fed President James Bullard said policy normalisation ended at the March FOMC meeting and that the inflation target is likely to be missed once again this year. Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said that even though the US economy is slowing, he is almost certain the current expansion will become the longest on record.
• Fed appointment – Herman Cain is unlikely to be confirmed to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors after fourth Republican Senator, Kevin Cramer, indicated he would vote against Mr. Cain’s nomination.
• Japanese trade negotiations – Reports that topics for next week’s trade talks are finalised. Suggests quotas on autos would not be accepted, but would consider simplifying customs procedures.
• Brexit – The EU agreed to an extension of Article 50 until October 31 with a review of progress scheduled for June 21. One of the conditions of the extension is that the UK will need to hold EU elections in late May or leave the EU by June 1.