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Forex Research

UK Opening Call from Alpari UK on 10 June 2014

Chinese inflation leaves room for further stimulus

European markets are expected to open somewhat cautiously, futures pointing towards marginal losses. This comes despite a largely positive Asian session where the likes of Hong Kong and Chinese markets seeing substantial upside. The inability of European markets to rise this morning points to a possible pullback of sorts following Thursday’s ECB driven upside. Thus European markets are expecting to see a negative open, with the FTSE100 -12, CAC -1 and DAX -7 points.


A pretty quiet day ahead in the markets, where the UK manufacturing production figure represents the only major event of note in the European session. As such, we have seen moves to counterbalance the markets following last week’s major shocks in the form of the ECB’s decision to implement a plethora of policy changes, along with the US jobs report impact. On the whole these two events taken in totality amount to a boost for the stock markets, alongside a mixed euro reaction. Given that Mario Draghi was clearly targeting a weakening of the euro, it is safe to say that the markets have somewhat disappointed given the extent to which Draghi went to ensure he saw a strong reaction.

The overnight session saw the Chinese inflation data post a larger than expected rise in CPI to 2.5% year on year. Delivered less than a day after the PBoC delivered yet another stimulative step in the form of a reduction in the RRR rate, today’s inflation figure remained well below the 3.5% target set out by the Chinese government. With governments the world over worrying about falling prices and the threat of deflation, today’s number represents a somewhat ‘sweet spot’ for China, allaying fears of a disinflationary environment but also remaining low enough to allow for future stimulus measures. Yesterday’s decision from the PBoC to cut the reserve requirement for some select banks has the potential to free up capital and raise liquidity in the business sector. However, given the lack of details regarding size, there is little way of knowing exactly by what degree it could change the economy’s fortunes given recent weaknesses.

This afternoon’s release of the UK manufacturing and industrial production figures bring the spotlight back onto the manufacturing sector following last week’s somewhat disappointing manufacturing PMI figure. The little ugly sister of the services sector, manufacturing is often seen as a bonus should we see a major push in growth. However, with the issues associated with an overreliance upon a set of similar and interconnected services sectors, the development of a healthy manufacturing sector is beneficial from a stability, growth and a balance of payments viewpoint. Typically the requirement for a substantial market move is a month on month figure around 1%. However, with today’s manufacturing production growth expected around 0.4%, we could be some way from this figure.

Read the full report at Alpari News Room
 
US Opening Call from Alpari UK on 10 June 2014

US futures pull back from record highs ahead of the open

US futures are pointing slightly lower on Tuesday, although if yesterday is anything to go by this should not be a concern as indices once again closed at record highs despite a difficult start to the session. Ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, the S&P is seen 3 points lower, the Dow 14 points lower and the Nasdaq 5 points lower.

The run in US equities right now is concerning quite a few people as volume is failing to confirm the moves. This doesn’t seem to be inhibiting it in any way though as it continues to create new highs on almost a daily basis. The daily gains are not that significant but the sheer number of them means the collective gain cannot be ignored.

Friday’s jobs report from the US won’t have done the rally any harm whatsoever as it showed another good month of job creation, while not significantly revising down the figure from the month before. We are still lacking that next major catalyst that would justify a significant move higher in the markets and likely bring with it higher volumes, but that’s not proving too much of a problem right now. Perhaps the measures taken by the ECB last week are being viewed as a form of stimulus despite traders at the time being rather sceptical.

This week is looking much quieter on the data front which means traders may have to look elsewhere to justify the moves. Today for example, there aren’t any notable US economic releases scheduled, although we do still have the NIESR GDP estimate for the three months to the end of May just after the US open. This could provide some good insight into the kind of growth we’ve had in the second quarter, which is likely to be pretty much in line with previous quarters, if not marginally better.

Read the full report at Alpari News Room
 
UK Opening Call from Alpari UK on 11 June 2014

UK jobs numbers headline quiet data session

• Indices seen taking a breather at the start of Wednesday’s session;
• Asia offered little direction over night as the world bank lowered growth forecasts;
• UK jobs report the only major economic announcement today.

European indices are set for a rather flat start on Wednesday, with the FTSE currently seen opening unchanged at 6,873, the CAC 1 point lower at 4,594 and the DAX 1 point lower at 10,027.

The lack of direction early in the session is probably just a case of traders taking a breather following a few positive days for equities. In recent days we have seen the DAX breach, and hold above, 10,000 for the first time, while the FTSE is trading at the top of its recent trading range and lies only 77 points from its all time highs, set at the end of 1999.

A lot of people are currently bemoaning the lack of volume confirming the rally in some indices at the moment, which is a valid concern, but that is doing nothing to hold it back. What’s more, we’re not seeing any significant corrections along the way, with indices simply taking short breathers before continuing on the path higher. That’s exactly what appears to be happening again today and if recent US sessions are anything to go by, these opening levels should not be taken as an indication of how the session will play out.

The Asian session over night provided little direction for the markets, with indices there ending the day mixed. A report released by the world bank which showed GDP forecasts for the developing world for this year being revised lower, from 5.3% to 4.8%, probably didn’t help sentiment over night. That said, it can hardly come as a surprise when you consider the slowdown we’ve seen in China so far this year, not to mention the impact that the woeful first quarter in the US and the crisis in the Ukraine will have had on the developing countries. In fact, I’m a little surprised it wasn’t revised even lower, although there’s still plenty of time to do so.

With little data being released again on Wednesday, focus will be on the UK where we do at least have some important numbers due out. Ordinarily, top of the list here would be the unemployment rate, but that is not necessarily the case today, not among investors anyway. While this is important and will probably be what makes the headlines across many of the news wires, the other data is arguably equally important now that the Bank of England has opened up its forward guidance to take into consideration a wide range of economic indicators.

As a result, average earnings has become a key focal point, with the BoE determined to see earnings growth exceed inflation following a long period in which the consumer has been becoming poorer simply because prices are rising faster than wages. While many are pointing to a rise in the minimum wage to help overcome this, the BoE is focused on a more natural route and this appears to finally be paying off. By focusing on improving productivity levels, while at the same time reducing the slack in the labour market by maintaining an accommodative monetary policy stance, we appear to be almost in the position again whereby wages will rise naturally again. This may be a more painful approach but it may also be the best one for the long term economic health of the country.

Wage growth is seen pulling back in April, to 1.2%, both including and excluding bonuses, but the longer term trend is looking more positive. Unemployment is also expected to fall to 6.7% in April, reaching its lowest level in more than five years.

Read the full report at Alpari News Room
 


Market Analyst Craig Erlam was on Bloomberg earlier talking about Ted Baker earnings, Lloyds, Tesco and market volatility.
 
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US Opening Call from Alpari UK on 11 June 2014

US futures lower after more record highs on Tuesday

US indices are expected to open lower on Wednesday, with the S&P seen down 5 points, the Dow down 42 points and the Nasdaq down 8 points.

It’s been an impressive run for US indices as of late, with the S&P and Dow both hitting new record highs on an almost daily basis. That run had to come to an end at some point and early indications would suggest that may be today. That said, as we’ve seen already during this rally, a negative open can quickly be reversed so I wouldn’t write off the chances of further record highs being made today.

That said, we are looking at a very quiet day for the US in terms of economic events, with no notable data due out and no other major events scheduled. With that in mind, the lack of a positive catalyst may offer the opportunity for traders to lock in some profits and wait for a lower entry. I don’t expect a significant correction at this stage but a shallow correction or, at least, a consolidation of some kind may be on the cards.

The European session hasn’t been much more lively today. The only notable event this morning was the release of the UK jobs data, which despite carrying some negatives, has been well received by the markets. Despite the Bank of England claiming that they are looking at a wide range of data in order to determine the correct time to raise rates, the unemployment rate is clearly still carrying a significant amount of weight among traders.

The unemployment rate fell more than expected in April, dropping from 6.8% to 6.6%, in a further sign that the economy is on the mend. However, average earnings growth tumbled in the same month to 0.7%, including bonuses, and 0.9%, excluding bonuses. Clearly this is being overlooked at this stage which I think is dangerous because in an economy that relies so heavily on the consumer, wage growth needs to surpass inflation if any recovery is going to be sustainable. The numbers for March were much better and the earnings including bonuses figure was revised higher to 1.9%, which may be why traders are willing to let this one slide.

Markets were mixed in Asia over night, with indices of those developing economies appearing to fare the worst after the world bank downgraded growth in the developing world from 5.3% to 4.8%. This didn’t weigh too heavily on sentiment as I imagine a downgrade was probably expected, given the start to the year in China and other external factors, such as the poor first quarter in the US and the Ukraine crisis.

Read the full report at Alpari News Room
 
Webinar - 10 June 2014 - Alpari UK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcI-DTCz7Es

Weekly Market Webinar

Live every Tuesday afternoon our chief market analyst James Hughes, market analyst Craig Erlam and research analyst Joshua Mahony take a look at the major stories moving the markets. They will also look at some of the charts and discuss the big technical levels traders should be looking out for.

Click here to Register for our Webinar
 
UK Opening Call from Alpari UK on 12 June 2014

Attention turns to euro data after RBNZ hikes rates again

• Nikkei slides on stronger yen, while NZD rallies following third rate hike from RBNZ.
• Plenty of low tier economic data scheduled for release this morning;
• Eurozone industrial production headlines data heavy morning;
• US jobless claims and retail sales key ahead of the US open.

European indices are expected to open pretty flat on Thursday following fairly negative sessions in both the US and Asia over night. The FTSE is expected to open up 8 points at 6,846, while the CAC and DAX are seen unchanged at 4,555 and 9,949, respectively.

Many of the Asian indices simply tracked the US indices lower after traders took a little profit following a decent few weeks for the indices. Many Japanese stocks, particularly those sensitive to currency fluctuations, suffered as a result of the yen rally yesterday. The dollar slipped below 102 against the yen in a sign that this period of range trading is far from over. The pair had been looking quite bullish up until that point and was showing signs of breaking above its recent range which could have prompted quite an aggressive move higher.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised rates again over night, a few months after becoming the first major central bank to do so. This is actually the third consecutive month that the central bank has raised rates which sends a clear message about its intentions to pre-empt any significant rise in inflation, which is likely to come with the country growing at around 4% so far this year. Not only did the RBNZ raise rates, which was expected, it also hinted at further rate hikes in the coming months which explains the rally in the New Zealand dollar over night despite the fact that today’s hike was largely priced in.

While there’s plenty of economic data scheduled for release today, the majority of them are historically low impact figures so I see no reason to assume the same won’t be true today. This includes items such as French, Irish and Portuguese inflation figures and Greek unemployment, all of which may sound like noteworthy events but when you look at them a little closely are either old news or simply not seen as having any impact on the eurozone as a whole.

The inflation numbers, for example, could provide us with important insight into the overall eurozone reading for May, which sounds useful. However, the preliminary May inflation reading for the eurozone was released last week, making these releases effectively useless for those trading the euro, for example. The Greek unemployment rate is another that will most likely be ignored simply because the dire jobs market in Greece is old news. There is no longer a realistic chance of Greece exiting the euro and therefore these numbers, while depressing, are not going to move markets. Greece is a small country after all and once the threat to the currency union goes away, so does the impact of data releases such as these.

The one noteworthy release today is the April industrial production figure. Even this is likely to have only a small market impact but compared to the other pieces of data being released today, it certainly stands out. The monthly numbers here can be quite volatile so it tends to be best to focus on the year on year number, which provides more useful insight into the situation in the euro area right now. This is expected to show that last month’s small negative reading was just a blip in an otherwise positive trend. The number for April is expected to show a jump of 0.9% compared to last year which is far from spectacular but still, a vital improvement.

The US session later should be more interesting with weekly jobless claims and retail sales due an hour before the open. Jobless claims are expected to continue the recent trend of numbers close to 300,000, which is a very encouraging sign for the labour market. Meanwhile, the release of the retail sales report is viewed by many as one of the more reliable indicators of economic health as it shows exactly what the consumer thinks of the situation at the moment. The logic is simply, if they are optimistic about the economy, they’ll put their hands in their pocket, if not they won’t. Recent reports have shown pretty steady growth and today’s number is expected to be no different, with the main reading seen showing 0.6% growth in May and the core number 0.4%.

Read the full report at Alpari News Room
 
US Opening Call from Alpari UK on 12 June 2014

US futures higher ahead of retail sales and jobless claims

A day after the Dow’s winning streak came to a halt, we’re expecting US indices to open marginally higher as traders look for the next catalyst that can spark another rally.

Fortunately, there is a couple of potential catalysts today that could provide that spark in the form of the retail sales report for May and the weekly jobless claims number. The retail sales figure, in particular, has the potential to create a big move in the markets given that it is widely viewed as one of the most reliable indicators of economic health and its sustainability.

The consumer is hugely important to the US economy, contributing a significant amount to total output. Any sign that consumer sentiment is waning would not be well received by the markets, especially after such a poor first quarter. Thankfully, it does not look like that will happen, with expectations currently being for 0.6% growth in the headline figure and 0.4% for the core number. That should be enough to ease growth fears for now.

Weekly jobless claims have become a reliable source of good news for the US recently, having consistently hovered around the 300,000 level. This suggests that aside from seeing fewer job cuts, we’re also seeing job creation pick up to the point that people are able to move from one job to another without having to sign on. This is an encouraging sign that the labour market is getting back to good health, although clearly, it’s not quite there yet.

The European session has been fairly quiet so far, despite there being plenty of economic data being released. Unfortunately, the majority of these are viewed as low-tier releases and therefore tend to be completely overlooked by the markets. This is hardly surprising when you consider that the inflation readings for Ireland, Portugal and France come a week after the eurozone CPI figure. Greek unemployment, while being a concern, is no threat to the eurozone economy any more as the country has effectively secured its place in the currency union.

Ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, the S&P is expected to open 1 points higher, the Dow 19 points higher and the Nasdaq 3 points higher.

Read the full report at Alpari News Room
 

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