Asian and Chinese indices continue the rebound on hopes of additional stimulus form PBOC amid the coronavirus outbreak. In a positive move, China announced it would halve tariffs on $75 billion of imports from the U.S. starting February 14. Meanwhile, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases are more than 28,100, with the death toll at 563. Investors sentiment lifted by news that there is substantial progress on the coronavirus vaccine and cure
The central bank of China earlier in the week, announced measures to ease the impact of the epidemic adding liquidity in the markets. The PBOC cut the reverse repo rates by 10 basis points and injected $173.8 billion of liquidity. The Nikkei 225 finished 2.38% higher at 23,873. The Hang Seng index is 2.50% higher at 27460. The Singapore FTSE Straits Times Index ended 0.77% higher at 3225. The Shanghai Composite closed up 1.31% at 2854. In Australia the ASX 200 index ended 1.05% higher at 7049. Wall Street indices hit record highs helped by better manufacturing and employment data.
European indices started higher the session. The German DAX index is 1.09% higher at 13,188. CAC40 is 1.26 higher at 5,905, while the FTSE MIB in Milan is 1.49% higher at 23,810. In London, the FTSE 100 is 1.22% higher at 7,415.
In commodities markets, the crude oil is 2.44% higher at $51.99 as the rebound from a 13-month low of $49.31 continues. Brent oil is 2.06% higher at $56.42 per barrel. Gold price is 0.12% higher at 1,557. The gold technical analysis outlook is positive as the gold price trades above all daily moving averages. The first obstacle stands at $1,611 the recent high, while the support stands at $1,447 the recent low. Silver price is also higher, XAGUSD adds 0.60% at $17.69.
Cryptocurrencies rally, trading higher today. Bitcoin is 0.15% higher at $9,637 hitting the daily low at $9,512 and the daily high at $9,677. BTCUSD momentum is bullish as the bitcoin trading above the 50 and 100-day MA. Support for Bitcoin stands now at $8,000 while the next support level stands at 7,500. On the upside, initial resistance will be met at 9,925 top and then at 10,000 round figure. Ethereum trades 1.58% higher at 206.76 with capitalization now at 22.71 billion.
On the upside resistance for Ethereum stands at $210 recent high while the support stands at $117.09 December low. XRPUSD is 1.18% higher at 0.2809. Litecoin (LTCUSD) is trading 0.84% higher at 73.17. The crypto market cap capitalization is $273.32 billion.
In the Lookout: Japan Foreign Investment in Japanese Stocks was down to ¥-295.6B on January 31 from previous ¥-284.3B.
The Australia Retail Sales s.a. came in at -0.5%, below forecasts of -0.2% in December. Australia Exports dropped from the previous 2% to 1% in December. The Australia Imports came in at 2% in December versus the previous -3%. The Australia National Australia Bank’s Business Confidence (QoQ) came in at -1 below the expectations of 3 in the fourth quarter.
The JP Morgan Global PMI composite output index hit 10-month highs in January.
The People’s Bank of China set the Yuan reference rate at 6.9985 versus the previous settlement at 6.9823.
Trading Perspective: In the forex market, the US dollar index (DXY) is 0.02% higher at 98.28, while the EURUSD IS 0.05 higher at 1.1004. The AUD is 0.01% higher at 0.6746 againssst the USD after the RBA hold interest rates unchanged. NZDUSD trades 0.09% higher at 0.6467. USDCHF pair is 0.08% higher at 0.9742.
GBPUSD trades 0.19% lower at 1.2972 after stronger economic data from UK yesterday. Hard Brexit fears have returned after PM Boris Johnson set out tough terms for European Union negotiations. Last week the Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged. The first support for the British pound against the US dollar now stands at 1.2578 low which if broken, might push the GBPUSD pair further down towards 1.20. On the upside, first resistance stands at 1.3511 recent high.
EURUSD trades 0.22% lower at 1.1022 as the pair’s momentum has turned now negative. The EURUSD broke below the 100-day moving average and now sellers are in control. First resistance for the EURUSD stands at 1.1224 recent high. On the other hand, support is at 1.1018 today’s low and then at 1.10.
USDJPY is trading 0.01% higher at 109.81, having hit the daily low at 109.74 and the daily high at 109.97. The pair will meet initial support at 105.43 the August low. On the upside, initial resistance for the USDJPY now stands at 110.28 January high.
USDCAD trades 0.03% lower at 1.3278, as the Bank of Canada last week kept interest rates unchanged. The USDCAD pair will meet first support at 1.2950 the recent low while the next support level stands at 1.29 round figure. On the flip side, resistance will be met at the 1.3066 the high from December 31st.
