21.05.15

Good morning,

Asian markets saw the Nikkei set a new 15 year high during the trading session. Foreign Investment in both stocks and bonds was on the rise. USDJPY trades at 120.99 at time of writing. In China the HSBC Manufacturing purchasing Manager Index for May was out at 49.1 The Bank of Japan will hold a press conference and publish their monetary policy statement during the next Asian session.

The NIKKEI closed at 20202.87 following Thursday’s session.

In Europe today we will see a range of Markit data including Services and Manufacturing PMI figures from France, Germany and the Euro Zone. British Retail Sales figures for April will also be published before the ECB Policy Meeting Accounts are released. EURGBP trading at 0.7159 at time of writing. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is scheduled to speak today and again tomorrow. EURUSD trading at 1.1141

The FTSE100 was trading at 7013.70 while the DAX was trading at 11790.59 early in the European trading session.

In the US today Jobless Claims figures, the Chicago National Activity Index will be released at the start of the trading session. Existing Home Sales for April and the Philadelphia & Kansas Fed Manufacturing Indices also out this session. Consumer Price Index data from both the US and Canada is due out tomorrow, and the USDCAD pair which currently is priced at 1.2192, could have high trading volumes around the data release.

The DOW closed at 18285.40 down 26.99 points or minus 0.15%

Hope you all have a nice day.