Morning Update – 30/11/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal
November 30, 2017Morning all.. A real mixed bag in equities as tech stocks sell off whilst more traditional stocks rallied; a clear rotation taking place. The NASDAQ closed down 1.27% whilst the Dow finished 0.44% higher on Wall St and the rotation seems to be on-going in Asia with the heavy tech indices of HK, Korea and Shanghai fell, the Nikkei rose 0.57%. The Kopsi also fell on a poor industrial production data and South Korea’s won slid after its central bank said it would keep an accommodative policy stance after raising interest rates for the first time since 2011. Australian shares fell, with lenders declining after the government announced an inquiry into banks. A measure of technology companies was the the biggest drag on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which trimmed monthly gains. U.S. tech stocks slumped overnight, signaling a rotation away from the year’s leaders into financial stocks, perhaps prompted by the shape of tax legislation in the Congress. The pound hit its highest since October on optimism about Brexit talks. Optimism the Senate will pass cuts to corporate taxes is buoying sentiment for corporate earnings growth, with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s comments that economic growth is “increasingly broad based” sending Treasuries lower as they added to enthusiasm for economic expansion. USDJPY broke back above 112.00 and made a high of 112.26 as US yields stayed near NY highs at 2.39% and the US curve steepened. The kiwi dollar took a hit after New Zealand business confidence slumped to the lowest since 2009. Elsewhere, oil declined before OPEC meets to decide on prolonging supply cuts past the end of March. This morning we get French PPI and CPI data, Spanish GDP, German and EU unemployment.. Good luck..