USDIndex steady at 102.50 but overall USD on bid. Stocks traded mostly lower, with China bourses hit by news suggesting that virus restrictions in part of Shanghai are already being tightened again amid a rise in case numbers, shortly after Covid lockdowns were lifted. Shanghai will lock down the Minhang district on Saturday morning for mass COVID-19 testing, according to Bloomberg. Hang Seng -0.9%, US stocks closed down over 1% (INTEL -5.28%), Yields back up (10-yr over 3% again), JPY pressured, Brent & WTI rose over 2.5% on tight supply and China opening up. Yellen says some China tariffs still warranted. Bonds are under pressure, with a 6 bp jump in Australia leading the way overnight.
Overnight – China trade surplus widened as exports rebound.
- USDIndex dipped to 102.24.
- Equities – Hang Seng and CSI300 are currently down -0.9% and -0.8% respectively. JPN225 moved sideways, but the ASX lost 1.5%. GER40 and UK100 are both down -0.6% and US futures are also in the red. USA500 finished off -1.08%, while the USA30 was off -0.81% and the USA100 was -0.73% lower.
- Intel rethinks near-term spending plans amid economic uncertainty – freezes some hiring.
- Yields 10-year rose over 6 bps to test 3.045%. The 2-year was 4 bps higher at 2.77%. The 10-year Bund yield is up 0.4 bp at 1.35%.
- USOIL up to $123.13 after stronger-than-expected Chinese exports in May, but found a ceiling amid new Shanghai lockdown restrictions. Gold weaker again below 1850.
- NATGAS futures jump 25% this morning on US LNG outage.
- FX markets – Yen found some support in the near term. USDJPY is above 133.90. EURUSD found some buyers ahead of the ECB meeting, leaving EURUSD at 1.0712, while Cable dropped to 1.2516 and Sterling also declined against the EUR. Turkish lira slid to beyond 17.2.
Today – ECB Rate Decision and Statement and US jobless claims.
ECB Preview: Markets are eagerly awaiting today’s press conference. Rate settings are expected to be held steady for now, and while there are some members who see the urgency to act sooner rather than later as inflation goes through the roof, the ECB’s timetable for the phasing out of stimulus effectively excludes a move on rates this week. Net asset purchases need to end first and Lagarde is expected to confirm that this will happen early in July, which would pave the way for a rate hike in July. Lagarde has already mapped out two moves in July and September and the basic scenario is for “gradual” 25 bp steps, although the discussion on a bolder kick off with a 50 bp boost in July has already started. We suspect that Lagarde will stick with a focus on “gradualism” for now. But she will not rule out a 50 bp step as the need to maintain credibility and assert the Bank’s commitment to price stability and the 2% inflation target seem increasingly urgent.
Biggest Mover @ (06:30 GMT) Platinum (-1.92%). Next key support at 970.00. H1 MAs aligning lower, MACD histogram sharply down, RSI 28, OS & declining, H1 ATR 3.91, Daily ATR 24.51.
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Andria Pichidi
Market Analyst
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