Morning Update – 20/02/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal
February 20, 2017Morning all.. Wall St had a quiet session in front of the holiday today with the S&P closing up 0.17% in a very subdued day. Asia was also quiet with the Nikkei finishing more or less unchanged. USD was trapped in tight ranges but USDJPY a tad firmer as the Nikkei held up. Having made a low of 112.79 we have since made a high of 113.24. Oil is slightly higher with WTI up 0.3% and the US 10yr market is closed. Traders expecting very little today due to the US holiday and a lack of data.. On the data front from Asia we saw Japan Jan Total Trade Deficit: 1.086trn vs 636.8bn cons; Exports: +1.3% y/y vs +4.3% cons; Imports: +8.5% y/y vs +4.7% cons; Exports to China +3.1% y/y, exports to US -6.6% y/y so pretty solid trade data. Fed’s Mester: would be comfortable raising rates at this point if economy keeps current pace of performance; Fed not behind the curve on rates, no one on Fed is thinking of raising rates quickly; inflation moving towards Fed tgt; US economy on sound footing; Fed policy remains effective at inflation control but cannot affect underlying state of economy. This morning we have no data of note apart from EU Consumer confidence.. Looks like being a quiet one.. Good luck.
