The dollar reached a four-and-a-half-year high against the yen on Wednesday after better-than-expected U.S. retail data, which also boosted Wall Street equities, although Asian shares failed to follow suit.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.45% edging off Tuesday’s near three-week closing high, with declines in most markets, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.4%.
The dollar reached a high of 114.97 yen in early Asian hours, its strongest since March 2017, while the euro languished at a 16-month low at $1.1320.
The greenback was helped by Tuesday data which showed U.S. retail sales rose faster-than-expected in October, potentially encouraging the U.S. Federal Reserve to accelerate the tapering of its asset purchase programme, as inflation remains stubbornly high.
“The data backs up that sense that things are going pretty well, and the Fed can be a little more aggressive if it wants to be without completely causing the party to crash,” said Rob Carnell, head of research for Asia Pacific at ING.
“Top of mind for everyone is inflation right now, it’s still an issue after the numbers we got from the U.S. yesterday, and we’ve got a whole barrage of other inflation data coming today, particularly the U.K and Canada,” he added.
Britain publishes its October CPI inflation data later today with a high print likely to add pressure on the Bank of England to raise rates in December after surprising markets by holding fire last month.
“What it’s not about is the Biden-Xi summit, which had the potential to do damage but seems not to have done so,” Carnell added.
At a three hour meeting on Tuesday, U.S. president Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping turned down some of the heat in Sino-U.S. tensions, though both sides held to their entrenched positions on a range of issues.
The positive tone offered a slight boost to Asian shares on Tuesday, but this proved short lived.
On Wednesday, the Hong Kong benchmark slipped 0.4%, weighed by property developers and casinos as traders bet a recent rebound in both sectors had gone too far. Chinese blue chips were flat.
Australian shares slipped 0.5%, weighed by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country’s largest bank, whose shares slipped 6% after it flagged hit to margins from the low interest rate environment and mortgage competition.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.15%, the S&P 500 gained 0.39% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.76%, supported by the retail sales figures.
These also provided a boost to U.S. Treasuries and benchmark 10-year note yields reached as high as 1.646% in early Asia, a three-week high.
U.S. crude dipped 0.66% to $80.25 a barrel. Brent crude fell 0.5% to $82.03 per barrel.
Spot gold rose 0.25% to $1,854 an ounce, climbing back towards the five-month high of $1,876.9 hit a day earlier on rising inflation concerns.
Rival inflation hedge bitcoin was steady at $60,240 having shed 5% a day earlier and briefly falling below $60,000.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
