Morning Update – 26/10/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

Morning all.. Wall St had a mild wobble and actually closed lower for a change with the S&P down 0.47% (the biggest declines in seven weeks and uneven corporate earnings keep traders on edge ahead of reports from technology giants, banks and a European Central Bank meeting. The dollar extended losses against G10 peers.) but Nikkei managed to close in the green; marginally higher by 0.14% and some suggest Japanese stocks my now out-perform the US where tapering of bond purchases has begun. Electronics companies and machinery makers underpinned modest gains on Japan’s Topix index after Fanuc Corp. and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. raised their full-year operating forecasts. Ten-year Treasury yields were steady after reaching their highest since March, and gold rose as investors sought havens from slumping equity markets but US yields are lower into the open of Europe. The ECB is expected to announce a reduction in the size of its monthly bond buying at its policy meeting today, the biggest scheduled event for markets this week. In the latest development on who the next Fed chair will be, U.S. President Donald Trump seems to have ruled out National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn. An announcement is imminent with Trump expected to name the next Fed head before Nov. 3. We also have Norway’s Norges Bank and Sweden’s Riksbank rate decision on today.. BBG Sources: EU 27 agreed to start work on internal preparations for possibility that Brexit talks fail to reach a breakthrough at Dec’s summit & allow trade talks to begin. FX markets were quiet. Of course the big event is the ECB meeting today.. Good luck..