The strong Yen continues to weigh on the Nikkei even though other core Asian Indices performed. Minutes from the Jan BOJ meeting were released which showed that additional stimulus were discussed, including the possible expansion of QE. However, having opened unchanged and after a long week the Nikkei closed down -1.25% on the day and 2.5% lower […]

The Asian markets responded quite positively to the FED’s unchanged decision yesterday with HSI and China Main trading a little over 1% higher across the board. The Exporters did not fare so well, as such, Japan closed a little lower (-0.22%) on the back of a stronger JPY (+1%). China moved the yuan mid-point from 6.5172 […]

With both Asia and European markets were in pretty much a waiting station ahead of the FED, so it is probably worth us heading straight to where the action started! Even the events of the UK Budget were almost removed with talks of,  “It could all change come June 23rd anyway” so why get too hot under the […]

Asia closed mixed in a session dominated by central bank thinking and with the uncertainty of holding recent gains. The BOJ was vocal only in that they stated it was too early still to monitor the effects of the recent negative move. The JPY returned to previous highs and in late US trading Nikkei futures have dropped […]

Quieter equity markets across the globe today with gains decreasing as we move from east to west. Core Asian markets saw returns today of around +1.5% each but the week is to be dominated by central bank activity. Today sees the start of the BOJ’s two-day meeting, but no change in rate is expected by […]

Asia performed across the board with gains of between +0.5% to +1.1%. We have seen that carried forward into US trading with futures adding 1.5% to the cash closes. I want to move-on quickly to Europe today as this is where we are receiving many questions. The first thing we need to highlight is the why stock […]

The surprise rate cut by the New Zealand Central Bank earlier this morning spooked a few markets especially ahead of the ECB later in the day. The Nikkei liked the news which resulted in a +1.3% rally but that has been reversed after the wests reaction to the ECB this evening. In late US trading […]

All core Asian markets closed down but off their lows. Shanghai was down almost 4% in the morning session and so a -1.3% close almost felt like an up day! All eyes still seem to be concentrating on the RMB against the USD, fixed on every daily move. It is worth monitoring the RMB against a basket […]

  Weaker than expected trade data ($32.59bn v Expected $50.15bn) from China saw equities open around 3% down, but that created the day’s low and the market steadied from that point. The Shanghai spent much of the day struggling to recover but recover it did and closed up on the day +0.1%. In Japan, consumer confidence fell […]

Asian equity markets open with lots of talk around the Chinese National Peoples Congress and the idea that GDP will now be an indicative target range (6.5 – 7%). The Shanghai opened over 1% firmer but did lose that as we headed into the afternoon session, only to recover and close up +0.85%. The PBOC […]