Risk sentiment appears to be recovering after positive US ISM data on Monday and continued stabilization measures by PBoC.
Wall Street rebounds to start the week. The S&P 500 advanced 0.7% on Monday, as investors presumably viewed last week's drop as a good opportunity to buy the dip. The Nasdaq (+1.3%) and Russell 2000 (+1.1%) outperformed, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.5%) trailed its peers.
Coronavirus fears remain, but policy support from China announced on Monday and backed up again today (PBoC injected RMB 400bn via reverse repos), as well as continued efforts globally to contain the virus appear to be aiding sentiment for now.
The latest case count stands above 20.6k with 427 confirmed deaths. Hong Kong reported its first death, following a case in the Philippines on Monday but this was ignored by markets. Market based measures show a clear decline in concern.
Markets are risk‐on overnight, a 0.7% rise in S&P futures dragging USD/JPY back up toward 109 (108.82) and AUD the top performer, compounded by an RBA statement that leaves a high hurdle for further cuts.
The RBA left the cash rate unchanged at 0.75%, as was widely expected. The accompanying statement erred positive on a number of fronts, provided another reminder of the long and variable lags of monetary policy, and signaled a very patient approach. Lowe gives his semi‐annual testimony to parliament on Thursday and the RBA detailed Statement on Monetary Policy is out on Friday. AUD rose, but since the beginning of the year, the trend is bearish.
Top-tier data today is limited to GBP construction PMIs, USD durable goods orders and post the NY close, NZD’s Labor Report.
Wall Street rebounds to start the week. The S&P 500 advanced 0.7% on Monday, as investors presumably viewed last week's drop as a good opportunity to buy the dip. The Nasdaq (+1.3%) and Russell 2000 (+1.1%) outperformed, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.5%) trailed its peers.
Coronavirus fears remain, but policy support from China announced on Monday and backed up again today (PBoC injected RMB 400bn via reverse repos), as well as continued efforts globally to contain the virus appear to be aiding sentiment for now.
The latest case count stands above 20.6k with 427 confirmed deaths. Hong Kong reported its first death, following a case in the Philippines on Monday but this was ignored by markets. Market based measures show a clear decline in concern.
Markets are risk‐on overnight, a 0.7% rise in S&P futures dragging USD/JPY back up toward 109 (108.82) and AUD the top performer, compounded by an RBA statement that leaves a high hurdle for further cuts.
The RBA left the cash rate unchanged at 0.75%, as was widely expected. The accompanying statement erred positive on a number of fronts, provided another reminder of the long and variable lags of monetary policy, and signaled a very patient approach. Lowe gives his semi‐annual testimony to parliament on Thursday and the RBA detailed Statement on Monetary Policy is out on Friday. AUD rose, but since the beginning of the year, the trend is bearish.
Top-tier data today is limited to GBP construction PMIs, USD durable goods orders and post the NY close, NZD’s Labor Report.



