Global Stocks Wipe Out Weekly Gains As European PMIs Slump
'Not much of a gain to wipe out in the first p;ace
If China's gargantuan credit injection was supposed to prompt a wave of global "green shoots", it failed to make a dent on Europe.
Global shares erased this week’s gains and US equity futures dropped after weak manufacturing surveys from Asia and Europe stoked renewed fears of a slowdown in global growth, adding to profit taking ahead of the long Easter weekend, while safe havens such as the dollar and treasuries pushed higher.European markets dropped after French and German manufacturing PMIs for April showed activity continuing to contract. Germany’s DAX more than doubled losses on the day to trade 0.3 percent lower after the release of the German survey, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.2 percent even as carmaker and food shares gained.
Earlier in the session, Asia suffered even heavier losses, with South Korean shares leading the decline as issues with the new 2-screen Samsung phone weighed on the biggest stock in the main index.
China’s yuan rose to the highest level in more than nine months after the central bank strengthened its daily fixing by the most in four weeks. The Bloomberg replica of the CFETS RMB Index, which tracks the yuan versus a basket of 24 trading partners’ currencies, edged up for a fifth straight day on Thursday. The gain came after the People’s Bank of China strengthened the yuan’s reference rate by 0.3 percent, the most since March 21, although it was in line with traders and analysts’ expectations. The central bank’s move on the daily fixing was “an indication that the authorities seem comfortable with yuan strength,” according to Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. In the near term, the yuan could test the year’s high of 6.67 per dollar, he said.
PBoC is reportedly unlikely to lower RRR in the short-term after recent liquidity injections and MLF announcement, while better than expected Q1 data also means there is less pressure for a RRR cut. (China Securities Journal)
BoK kept the 7-Day Repo Rate unchanged at 1.75% as expected with the decision made unanimously. BoK said South Korea economy to grow mid-2% level this year and hover below prior projections but won't significantly diverge from potential level, while it added that exports are to recover gradually
In commodities, oil markets fell(currently up as chart indicates) despite a surprise decline in U.S. inventories, but the price drops were tempered by a smaller-than-expected reduction in gasoline stocks and ongoing OPEC-led supply cuts.
Economic data include retail sales, jobless claims, Markit PMI readings. Philip Morris, Honeywell, American Express and Danaher are due to report earnings
Market Snapshot
S&P 500 futures down 0.2% to 2,895.00
STOXX Europe 600 down 0.2% to 388.92
MXAP down 0.5% to 163.00
MXAPJ down 0.4% to 543.65
Nikkei down 0.8% to 22,090.12
Topix down 1% to 1,614.97
Hang Seng Index down 0.5% to 29,963.26
Shanghai Composite down 0.4% to
3,250.20
Sensex down 0.07% to 39,247.89
Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.05% to
6,259.81
Kospi down 1.4% to 2,213.77
German 10Y yield fell 3.5 bps to 0.045%
Euro down 0.3% to $1.1260
Brent Futures down 0.4% to $71.31/bbl
Italian 10Y yield rose 1.8 bps to 2.241%
Spanish 10Y yield fell 3.2 bps to 1.074%
Brent Futures down 0.4% to $71.31/bbl
Gold spot up 0.1% to $1,275.23
U.S. Dollar Index up 0.2% to 97.24
US Event Calendar
8:30am: Retail Sales Advance MoM, est.
1.0%, prior -0.2%; Retail Sales Ex Auto
MoM, est. 0.7%, prior -0.4%
8:30am: Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook,
est. 11, prior 13.7
8:30am: Initial Jobless Claims, est. 205,000,
prior 196,000; Continuing Claims, est.
1.72m, prior 1.71m
9:45am: Bloomberg Consumer Comfort,
prior 59.8
9:45am: Markit US Manufacturing PMI, est.
52.8, prior 52.4
9:45am: Markit US Services PMI, est. 55,
prior 55.3
9:45am: Markit US Composite PMI, prior
54.6
10am: Leading Index, est. 0.4%, prior 0.2%
10am: Business Inventories, est. 0.3%, prior
0.8%
Live Gold
$1275.80
1,275.80Bid
1,276.80Ask
High: 1,278.20
Low: 1,270.50
+2.20 +0.17%
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-18/global-stocks-wipe-out-weekly-gains-european-pmis-slump
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/futures
https://www.dailyfx.com/crude-oil
https://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html