Morning Update – 20/11/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

Morning all.. Wall St had a disappointing close in to the end of the week with the S&P down 0.26% in a session that saw weakness from the off. This theme followed into Asia where the Nikkei was down another 0.6% (China and HK markets in the green. Chinese equities reversed losses that came after regulators unveiled a fresh initiative to curb shadow banking. Treasuries advanced). The main story overnight was EUR weakness as Merkel’s push to form a coalition government collapsed. While the German political impasse triggered an immediate slide in the euro, it occurs against the backdrop of a European economy growing strongly enough that the European Central Bank is scaling back its stimulus. Traders feel uncertain where German politics are headed so this may cap the EUR for a while and traders keen to see how EU stocks perform today, especially the DAX. The collapse of talks has thrown the future of Europe’s longest-serving leader into doubt and potentially points the world’s No. 4 economy toward new elections.The fall in the Nikkei kept USDJPY pinned to 112.00 with a low seen of 111.88. US 10yr yields sit at 2.335% as we head into the European open. There are no data from the European or US session of note today.. Good luck..