20.02.15

Good morning,

Chinese New Year celebrations continue until the middle of next week, with markets there remaining closed until that time. Japanese Nomura/JMMA Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index figures came out at 51.5 falling below expectations of a 52.6 reading, and below the 52.2 previous figure. USDJPY was trading at 118.88 The start of the coming week will see the publication of the Bank of Japan Monetary Policy meeting minutes.

The NIKKEI was trading at 18332.30 up 67.51 points or 0.37%

In Europe today we saw German Producer Price Index figures disappoint, Markit figures to follow for Germany and the Euro Zone. Greek debate continues. Italian Industrial Orders & Consumer Price Index figures, British Retail Sales figures for January also released today. EURGBP trading at 0.7359 a level not seen since 2007 EURUSD trading at 1.1329

The FTSE100 was trading at 6887.74 while the DAX was trading at 10976.55 shortly after the open.

In the US today we don’t have a lot of data scheduled for release. The Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index is expected to fall to 53.6 from 53.9 CABLE was trading at 1.5412 Canadian Retail Sales figures for December are also out this session, with USDCAD trading at 1.2483 at time of writing. USOIL trading at $52.07 per barrel and GOLD trading at $1207 per ounce heading into the weekend break.

The DOW closed at 17985.77 down 44.08 points or minus 0.24%

Hope you all have a nice weekend.