There was plenty of action in US trading yesterday and Asia today, so let’s recap.
There was some mixed data in the US before the Fed came along. The ADP employment data was a beat but markets didn’t care much for that. Instead, traders focused more on the miss in the ISM manufacturing data here. However, the report also showed a higher prices paid figure.
As for the Fed, they didn’t quite deliver on a hawkish leaning and that was pretty much the key takeaway. They stuck to the existing policy stance and the dollar slipped a little but nothing too outstanding. Meanwhile, equities were rocked late on as sellers stepped in during the final hour to seal a down day for stocks. US futures are showing a modest bounce back though, with S&P 500 futures now up 0.5%.
In FX, major currencies are mostly steady as the focus is on the Japanese yen. That kept things interesting in Asia with USD/JPY marked down in the early hours from 157.50 to 153.00, before recovering to be just under 156.00 currently.
Looking to European trading today, there won’t be much on the data docket to shake things up in the big picture. There is Swiss inflation data and we’ll see if that will vindicate the start of the SNB’s rate cut cycle. The expectation is for a 1.1% reading for headline annual inflation.
Then, there is some euro area PMI data but they are the final figures for the manufacturing reading. As such, it’s no biggie. The focus now will instead turn slowly towards the US jobs report tomorrow.
0630 GMT – Switzerland April CPI figures
0715 GMT – Spain April manufacturing PMI
0730 GMT – Switzerland April manufacturing PMI
0745 GMT – Italy April manufacturing PMI
0750 GMT – France April final manufacturing PMI
0755 GMT – Germany April final manufacturing PMI
0800 GMT – Eurozone April final manufacturing PMI
1130 GMT – US April Challenger layoffs, job cuts
That’s all for the session ahead. I wish you all the best of days to come and good luck with your trading! Stay safe out there.