Market Reports

Notes/Observations
- German Exports fall 5%, the lowest in eight months in further signs of Europe's slowing economy.
- Deutsche Bank shares reverses initial losses after talk of a capital hike recedes
- Cable settling over $1.53 ahead of the BoE rate decision ...

The FTSE 100 is called to open slightly higher this morning but investor sentiment is likely to be cautious following the mixed performances on Wall Street and in Asia. Overnight we had domestic economic data from the RICS showing that the UK house price balance fell to +44 in September from +53 in August which was below forecast. The economic diary today also sees the Bank of England MPC interest rate decision announcement , the release of the latest US weekly jobless claims and this evening at 7.00pm a speech from the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and the publication of the FOMC meeting minutes as well. Commodity prices are lower and on the foreign exchanges, the pound is slightly weaker against both the dollar and the euro but all the key currencies are within narrow trading ranges ahead of the Bank of England statement and Mark Carney's speech and US data announcements. ...

Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)
- Nikkei225 -0.7%, S&P/ASX +0.6%, Kospi +0.1%, Shanghai Composite +3.8%, Hang Seng -0.4%, Dec S&P500 -0.4% at 1,980

Commodities/Fixed Income
- Dec gold -0.5% at $1,143/oz, Nov crude oil +0.5% at $48.06/brl, Dec copper -0.7% at $2.35/lb
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings fall 1.8 tonnes to 687.2 tonnes
- SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings fall to 9,802 tonnes from 9,855 tonnes (lowest level since Dec 2012)
- JGB: Japan's MOF sells 30-year JGB sells ¥728B in 1.4% 30-year bonds; Avg yield: 1.350% v 1.412% prior; Bid to cover: 3.33x v 3.11x prior ...

European equities are set to start flat this morning as traders struggle for direction. Yesterday was a mixed day for Europe, what with the DAX higher, the CAC flat and the FTSE lower. Overnight hasn’t provided any clarity both though as the US had a strong session with respectable gains whilst Asian markets have erased early gains and are now heading south. With the recent rally built on the assumption that the world’s central banks will help out with some more loose monetary policy, with the BoE and Fed releasing the minutes from their last meeting and an ECB meeting today, we could be about to find out that the bulls rally has been built on sand. ...

Markets Today

- Benchmark share indices hit their highest level in over six weeks led by commodity shares tracking a recovery in global crude oil prices while beaten down metal shares surged amid value buying and short covering at lower levels.

The 30-share Sensex ended up 103 points to end above 27,000 at 27,036 for the first time since August 21, 2015 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 25 points at 8,177. In the broader market, BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended up 0.1-0.4%. ...

- According to AllianceDBS Research, MKH’s strong foothold in Kajang and Semenyih makes it the largest beneficiary of the improved public transport connectivity via two mass rapid transit (MRT) stations within Kajang, which has also boosted its property sales.

- The group said the advantage of low land cost within the growing Kajang/Semenyih corridor, giving it pricing flexibility. Record unbilled sales stood at RM855 million, 1.2 times of its FY16 property revenue. ...