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Eurozone March trade balance €13.0 billion vs €18.7 billion expected

Latest data released by Eurostat – 18 May 2021

  • Prior €18.4 billion; revised to €23.1 billion

As a whole in Q1, euro area exports were seen down 0.6% compared to the same period in 2020 while imports actually showed a 0.2% increase compared to the period. That said, there is still some ways before the monthly trade conditions return back to pre-pandemic levels and that is pretty much the case elsewhere around the globe as well.

Eurostoxx futures +0.7% in early European trading

A more positive vibe in early trades

  • German DAX futures +0.6%
  • UK FTSE futures +0.7%
  • Spanish IBEX futures +0.5%
This mirrors the mood in US futures, where we are seeing S&P 500 futures up 0.3% and Nasdaq futures up by 0.6% to get things going on the session.
Treasury yields are keeping steady, with 10-year yields seen at 1.64% though the dollar is keeping slightly on the backfoot as we get into European trading.

More from China – seeking wider sources of iron ore

More comments from China’s National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China (NDRC)

This time specifically mentioning Australia’s #1 export to China.

 

  • says to support domestic firms to increase iron ore exploration and development at home
  • says to encourage firms to actively develop overseas iron ore resources
  • says to encourage firms to widen channels for iron ore imports

 

Risk keeps in a good spot ahead of European trading

Asian equities higher, US futures also higher

Nasdaq futures are pulling up by 0.5% now as the risk mood looks to be n a better spot after a bit of a retreat seen earlier to start the new week yesterday.
Asian stocks are also faring well with the Nikkei up over 2% and the Hang Seng up a little over 1% currently. The Shanghai Composite is less enthused, up by just 0.2%.
With US futures keeping higher, the market looks to be bouncing back from the drop yesterday but we will see if there will be any surprise headlines to follow later in the day.
It is still early to be calling anything at the moment but sentiment is at least keeping calmer after much jitters surrounding tech stocks from a week ago. It is still all about inflation talk for now but things have been rather quiet on that front this week.

PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 6.4357 (vs. yesterday at 6.4307)

The People’s Bank of China set the onshore yuan (CNY) reference rate for the trading session ahead.

    • USD/CNY is permitted to trade plus or minus 2% from this daily reference rate.
    • CNH is the offshore yuan. USD/CNH has no restrictions on its trading range.

 

  • The previous close was 6.4394
  • Reuters estimate from their survey was 6.4399, Bloomberg 6.4369 …. (A rate that’s significantly stronger or weaker than expected is typically considered a signal from the PBOC.)

US coronavirus study shows Pfizer, Moderna vaccines effective against Indian variant

AFP with the report on COVID-19 vaccines, study from  NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Center

  • preliminary at this stage
  • not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal
“What we found is that the vaccine’s antibodies are a little bit weaker against the variants, but not enough that we think it would have much of an effect on the protective ability of the vaccines”
AFP with the report on COVID-19 vaccines, study from  NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Center

Japan Q1 GDP (preliminary) -1.3% q/q (SA) (vs. -1.1% expected)

January – March economic growth data from Japan – a series of misses for the headline figures, consumption not as bad as expected though

  • GDP sa -1.3% q/q expected -1.1%, prior +2.8%
  • GDP annualised sa -5.1% q/q expected -4.5%, prior +11.7%
  • GDP nominal -1.6% q/q expected -1.3%, prior +2.3%
  • GDP deflator (an inflation indication) -0.2% y/y expected -0.1%, prior +0.3%
  • Private consumption -1.4% q/q expected -1.9% q/q, prior +2.2%
  • Business spending -1.4% q/q expected +0.8%, prior +4.3%

Some comments from the report:

  • consumption fell mainly due to eating out and car purchases
  • business spending (capex) declines mainly due to falls for communication equipment and vehicle production
  • exports rose due mainly to electronic parts, machinery
The end of Q1 marks the end of the Japanse Fical year. GDP for the fiscal year contracted 4.6%, the biggest drop ever recorded.

US Major stock indices close lower but well off the lows

Russell 2000 closes higher

Today was a day that could’ve been worse for the US stocks. The major indices are closed lower, but were well off the lows at the close. The Russell index of small-cap stocks closed marginally higher.
  • The S&P index closes less than 2% from the all-time high.
  • Dow, S&P and Nasdaq snap a today winning streak
  • NASDAQ is 6% from its all-time high
  • S&P and NASDAQ negative for the month of May
The final numbers are showing:
  • S&P index -10.56 points or -0.25% at 4163.29. The high reach 4171.92. The low extended to 4142.69
  • Nasdaq index felt -50.93 points or -0.3% at 13379.05. The high reached 13399.17. The low extended to 13265.40
  • Dow 30 fell -54.34 points or -0.16% at 34327.79. The high reached 34383.84. THe low extended  to 34176.65
Some of the winners for the day included:
  • Game stop, +12.87%
  • Roblox, +8.23%
  • AMC, +7.24%
  • Novavax, +6.39%
  • Western Digital, +6.36%
  • American Airlines, +4.22%
  • Chewy, +3.75%
  • Ford, +2.66%
  • Corsair, +2.5%
  • United Airlines, +2.32%

Some of the losers today included:

  • Airbnb, -6.21%
  • Doordash, -5.22%
  • Marriott, -2.36%
  • Square, -2.36%
  • Beyond Meat, -2.35%
  • Tesla, -2.18%
  • intuitive surgical, -2.08%
  • Disney, -2.07%
  • Goodrx, -1.84%