01.11.13

Australian Producer Price and Commodity Indices both showed a slight improvement on expectations. AUDUSD was trading at 0.9477 with a high of 0.9488 and a low of 0.9447 so far. Japanese vehicle sales figures showed an increase of 17.3% year on year. Heading into the weekend Asian shares were down even though Chinese manufacturing figures were up. The pullback has been attributed to further FED taper speculation according to some commentators. China’s PMI read 51.4 for October up from 51.1 in September.

The NIKKEI closed at 14201.60 down 126.37 points or minus 0.88%

Europe awaits Markit Manufacturing figures for Britain, Greece and Italy this morning. European Banking has heard on Thursday that ECB Governing Council member, Erkki Liikanen, believes that banks with unsustainable strategies should be allowed to fail. The Euro lost value yesterday against most pairs following figures which fell short of expectations. EURUSD fell from 1.3722 at opening yesterday to 1.3578 and dropped further again today. The pair is currently trading at 1.3526; with a high of 1.3581 and a low of 1.3516 so far.

The FTSE100 closed at 6750.07 up 18.64 or 0.28% while the DAX closed at 9032.84 down 1.08 or minus 0.01%

US Markets await non-farm payroll figures and the official unemployment rate today. Following the all but forgotten debt ceiling debate last month we now hear taper talk re-enter the mindset of the market once again. USDJPY was trading at 98.19 with a high of 98.36 and a low of 97.80 so far. Speeches today from Federal Reserve board members, Bullard, Lacker and Kocherlakota could be of interest.

The DOW closed at 15545.80 down 73.01 or minus 0.47%

Hope you all have a great weekend.