Wednesday 14.10.2020
Asian Session
Southeast Asian equities have underperformed the broader regional markets throughout this year, but JPMorgan says the worst may be over and some sectors and companies seem to be attractive. Mainland Chinese stocks went lower, with the Shanghai composite falling about 0.6% while the Shenzhen component declined 0.68%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong slipped fractionally. Japan’s index Nikkei225 bucked the overall trend among the region’s major markets as it rose slightly while the Topix index shed 0.38%. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.85%.
| Asian Stock | Closed |
| Nikkei | +0.18% |
| Hong Kong HSI | -0.21% |
| China Shanghai SSE | +0.04% |
| KOSPI – South Korea | +0.13% |
US Stocks
After major equities faced their first losses in five trading days, stocks index on futures markets advanced in an overnight trading. Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 44 points, indicating a 64-point gain at the open on Wednesday. S&P 500 futures gained 0.14%, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.3%. Earnings season kicked off on Tuesday with both JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup reporting better-than-expected results
| U.S Stocks | Closed |
| DOW | -0.55% |
| S&P500 | -0.63% |
| NASDAQ | -0.10% |
Major Currencies
With the EUR off highs against the USD, Terence Wu, FX Strategists at OCBC Bank, continues to stay negative on the EUR/USD pair. The pair is currently traded very neutrally near 1.1740 and the strategist expects the 1.1700 level to be reached soon. German CPI was in-line with expectations, but the ZEW survey was significantly more pessimistic than expected. Pound/Dollar has failed at its corrective target at 1.3070 and is extending Tuesday’s sell-off. The cable trades just above the 1.29 mark and Karen Jones, Team Head FICC Technical Analysis Research at Commerzbank, expects to see further losses to 1.2445 and eventually targets 1.2250/00. Dollar/Yen is predicted to keep trading within the 105.00-106.00 range in the short-term horizon, noted FX Strategists at UOB Group.
Gold Market
Spot gold prices remained stable at $1,895.04 per ounce by early trading session, after dropping by 1.6% in the previous session, amid concerns that further stimulus package may not be provided soon after Nancy Pelosi(US politician) has not accepted Trump’s roughly $1.8 trillion stimulus offer yesterday. US gold on futures were also unchanged at $1,898.30. The dollar index held on to gains after bouncing off a three-week low yesterday.
Oil Market
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) noted in its monthly report yesterday that crude oil demand will be increased from 6.54 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 96.84 million bpd which is actually 80,000 bpd less than its prediction a month ago, as a result of the economic dislocations caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude futures for December fell by 12 cents, or 0.3%, to $42.33, while WTI declined by 11 cents or 0.3% to $40.09 per barrel.
European Stocks
European equities were expected to open modestly, slightly higher on today’s trading session as coronavirus concerns weigh on global markets. Investors concern about the coronavirus new cases, along with a pause in vaccine trial in the US over safety concerns. Stoxx600 index yesterday closed lower by 0.55%.
On the data front 14-10-2020
| Time (GMT+3) | Event | Impact |
| 11:00 am | EUR ECB’s President Lagarde speech | High |
| 15:30 pm | USD Producer Price Index ex Food & Energy (YoY) (Sep) | Medium |
| 20:00 pm | USD Fed’s Quarles speech | Medium |
