Morning Update – 20/03/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

Morning all.. Wall St closed lower Friday, down just 0.13% in a quiet session and in front of the G20 meeting and the Nikkei has also finished down 0.35% in a quiet session. FX markets hardly moved and the G20 communique was seemingly a non-event. They put out another politically correct statement which told us little of the atmosphere in this meeting. G20 reaffirmed commitment to international economic cooperation; excess volatility in FX can have adverse implications; reaffirmed pledge to refrain from competitive devaluation; drops vow to reject protectionism; omits commitment to keep trade open/free or rules-based; omits reference to climate change financing; adds vow to promote ‘fairness’ in pursuit of economic growth; will strengthen contribution of trade to economies; monetary policy will continue to support growth but cannot ensure balanced growth alone; US pushed to adopt commitment to ‘free and fair trade’; diluted language on trade follows clashes with US. Trump is accusing Germany of not paying enough for NATO protection and Germany is pushing for a new trade agreement between Germany and Japan. German Finance Minister: communique was adopted unanimously; discussions on trade were complicated; no controversy on FX at G20; Mnuchin was not isolated nor treated like an outsider but he had not mandate to agree on new wording on trade.. However an IFO Economist: weak wording on trade is a defeat for German G20 Presidency; lack of rejection of protectionism is a clear breach of tradition. FX markets stuck with USDJPY just holding over 112.50 having touched 112.47 overnight. 112.00 seen as major support but US yields are drifting off as Europe walks in. US 10yr at 2.49%.. No data of note this morning.. Good luck..