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Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) September Meeting Minutes due at 1900BST/1300CDT on Wednesday 11th October 2017

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) stood pat at the meeting, in line with consensus.

The Committee also announced that it would begin to sspanink the size of its balance sheet in October, as expected, with the process falling in line with a previously disclosed detailed plan.

The summary of economic projections saw the FOMC trim its...
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  • UK politics continues to dominate with reports of preparations for a potential Brexit no-deal and further Tory in-fighting
  • Asian equities traded mostly higher with China returning to market for the first time in over a week. Japanese participants away from market
  • Looking ahead, highlights include ECB’s Mersch and Lautenschlaeger

ASIA

Asia equity markets...
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  • Asian equities traded mostly higher amid yet another strong close on Wall St. with markets now eyeing today’s NFP release
  • In FX markets, the greenback extended on yesterday’s gains and the DXY posted its highest level in 7-weeks
  • Looking ahead, highlights include US and Canadian jobs reports, BoE’s Haldane, Fed’s Bostic, Dudley and Kaplan

ASIA

Asia stocks...
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  • Asia-Pac trade was relatively contained amid ongoing holiday-thinned conditions and ahead of tomorrow’s NFP release
  • As was also the case in FX markets with the main focus being AUD which was pressured following softer domestic retail sales numbers
  • Looking ahead, highlights include ECB Minutes, US Trade Balance, Weekly Jobs, Factory orders and a slew of central bank...
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  • Asian equities traded broadly higher after a positive lead from the US where Sept car sales data helped push indices to record highs
  • In FX, the USD softened after Trump aides released a short list of Fed Chair nominees which included current Chair Yellen
  • Looking ahead, highlights include Eurozone, UK and US service PMIs, ADP, ISM Non-Mfg, ECB’s Draghi and Fed’s...
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  • In FX, the USD remained firm against its major counterparts. RBA kept rates unchanged as expected and highlighted the firmer currency
  • Asian equities traded mostly higher with the Hang Seng outperforming in a catch-up play from yesterday’s holiday
  • Looking ahead, highlights include UK construction PMI, US vehicle sales and APIs

ASIA

Asia equity markets were...
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  • Asian equities traded broadly higher with many bourses closed for domestic holiday’s
  • EUR/USD faced selling pressure following public unrest and clashes during the Catalonian referendum
  • Looking ahead, highlights include Eurozone PMIs, US ISM Manufacturing, ECB’s Praet and Fed’s Kaplan

ASIA

Asia-Pac equity markets were mostly higher on what...
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PREVIEW: Catalonian Referendum on Independence – Sunday 1st October

BACKGROUND

Despite opposition from the Madrid-based government, the regional government in Catalonia remains committed to holding an independence referendum this weekend. However, despite, the Catalan government passing legislation to hold the referendum, the quest for independence was dealt a blow after the Spanish Constitutional Court declared the...
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Asian equities head into the weekend on a mostly positive note as the region digested a slew of data

USD/JPY nursed some of the prior day’s declines, which was slightly aided by the release of the BoJ’s Summary of Opinions

Looking ahead, highlights include UK GDP, Eurozone CPI, US PCE, Personal Spending, Chicago PMI and a slew of central bank speakers

ASIA

Asia equity markets were positive on what was a range-bound day heading into quarter-end and after a similar close on Wall St,...
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Initial gains in Asia-Pac bourses petered out tspanoughout the session with newsflow relatively light and ahead of next week’s Chinese holiday

CAD hampered by a more cautious Poloz. RBNZ kept rates unchanged but noted that uncertainties remain

Looking ahead, highlights include German regional & national CPIs, US GDP, PCE figures and a slew of central bank speakers

ASIA

Asia equity markets traded mixed after momentum from US petered out and as China prepares for National Day Golden...
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Asian equities saw a lack of firm direction overnight after a mixed close on Wall Street which saw the DJIA post its 4th consecutive loss

Fed Chair Yellen reiterated that a gradual approach to rate hikes is appropriate but also warned of moving too gradually

Looking ahead, highlights include US durables, Pending Home Sales, DoE, RBNZ rate decision and further central bank speak

ASIA

Asia equity markets were mixed amid a lack of catalysts and after similar indecisiveness on Wall St....
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Asian equities traded with little in the way of firm direction as equity markets sspanugged off mounting geopolitical tensions

NZD extended on post-election losses with disappointing domestic data adding to the woes for the Antipodean currency

Looking ahead, highlights include US new home sales, APIs, ECB’s Praet, Fed’s Mester and Brainard, US 2yr note auction

ASIA

Asia equity markets lacked any solid direction after the weak momentum from US where all 3 major indices closed negative...
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This weekend saw elections in Germany and New Zealand whereby the incumbents both claimed victory but failed to secure a majority

This subsequently hampered NZD and to a lesser extent EUR with both main parties now eyeing coalition talks

Looking ahead, highlights include German IFO, and a slew of central bank speakers

ASIA

Asia equity markets began the week subdued as FX took much of the focus amid post-election hangovers from New Zealand and Germany where the incumbents in both won...
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On 24th September German voters will take to the polls to elect representatives to the 19th Bundestag. Polling stations will close at 1700BST, after which the first exit polls will be published. Once members have been elected, a Chancellor will then be appointed by an absolute majority; leading the way to form an actual government.

VOTING SYSTEM

In order to get as representative system as possible, Germany uses a relatively complicated...
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DAILY EUROPEAN OPENING NEWS: Asian equities faced selling pressure overnight amid tspaneats of further hydrogen bomb tests from North Korea

Asian equities faced selling pressure overnight amid tspaneats of further hydrogen bomb tests from North Korea

The risk-off sentiment spurred flows into JPY. Focus for GBP remains on today’s speech by UK PM May

Looking ahead, highlights include Eurozone services and manufacturing PMIs, Canadian retail sales & CPI, UK PM May and a slew of central bank...
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The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has capped its joint output at 32.5mln bpd since 1st January 2017, representing a 1.2mln bpd reduction from the October 2016 (chosen benchmark) levels (except for Angola for which September 2016 is used). Some non-OPEC producers also joined the pact, the most notable being Russia, bringing the total pledged production cut up to 1.8mln bpd. The current OPEC/non-OPEC production deal is set to expire in March 2018.

The Joint Monitoring...
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FOMC announced plan to begin balance sheet normalization as anticipated, and suggested increased prospects of a 3rd rate hike for 2017

The USD strengthened and yields rose after the decision as markets have to reprice expectations of hikes

Looking ahead, highlights include weekly jobs data, Philly Fed, ECB’s Praet and Draghi

FED DECISION

The FOMC confirmed plans to begin sspaninking the balance sheet in October, following the schedule set out in July.

The fed kept the FFR...
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Asian equities and FX traded with little in the way of firm direction overnight as markets await today’s FOMC policy announcement

UK PM May intends to make a EUR 20bln Brexit payment offer to the EU, according to the FT

Looking ahead, highlights include UK retail sales, DoEs and the FOMC announcement & press conference

ASIA

Asia stock markets saw an indecisive trading day amid a cautious tone ahead of today’s FOMC announcement. The looming risk event initially sapped the momentum from...
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Asian equity markets traded with a cautious tone as the FOMC draws closer and after the region failed to maintain the early impetus from US

FX trade was relatively tentative overnight. GBP/USD nursed yesterday’s Carney-inspired losses while CAD was hampered by comments from BoC’s Lane

Looking ahead, highlights include German ZEW, NZ Dairy Auction and US APIs

ASIA

Asia equity markets traded with a cautious tone as the FOMC draws closer and after the region failed to maintain the early...
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Asian equities traded higher (Japan away from market) following a strong close in the US on Friday

In FX, USD/JPY and JPY-crosses extended on last week’s upside as the positive risk sentiment spurred further outflows from the safe-haven JPY

Looking ahead, highlights include Eurozone CPI, ECB’s Lautenschlaeger, BoE’s Carney and BoC’s Lane

ASIA

Asia equity markets began the week on the front foot after last Friday’s gains in US, where all majors eked fresh record levels and the...
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Asia equity markets traded mostly negative after North Korea launched a missile that flew tspanough Japanese airspace

This prompted Japan to issue an emergency warning for its residents and South Korea conducted its own missile test as a show of readiness

Looking ahead, highlight include the Russian rate decision, US retail sales, industrial output, Uni. of Michigan, ECB’s Mersch, BoE’s Vlieghe and ECB’s Lautenschlager

ASIA

Asia equity markets traded mostly negative after North Korea...
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- MPC voted 7-2 in favour of keeping rates unchanged at 0.25%, as widely expected

- MPC voted 9-0 in favour of maintaining the stock of corporate and government bond purchases.

- Rhetoric was on the hawkish side, which was ultimately the driver of markets in the wake of the decision.

- A Reuters weighted basket of interest rate swaps and futures is now fully pricing a hike for March of 2018 (August 2018 was fully...
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The Swiss National Bank left its 3-month Libor target band unchanged at -1.25% to -0.25%, with the sight deposit rate left at -0.75%, in line with the universal consensus.

The Full SNB statement is available here.

All eyes were on the SNB’s rhetoric surrounding the CHF. The central bank tweaked its comments on the domestic currency stating that “recent development is reducing, to some...
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Asian equities traded with little firm direction as markets awaited key data releases and central bank announcements

AUD was once again a key focus in FX markets as gains from the Australian jobs report were trimmed by disappointing Chinese data

Looking ahead, highlights include SNB and BoE rate decisions, US CPI, weekly jobs, ECB’s Mersch and Weidmann

ASIA

Asia equity markets were lacklustre with a non-committal tone seen for most of the day after the cautious gains in the US and as...
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Asian equities traded with little direction as the positive momentum from Wall Street was offset by weakness in Apple suppliers

The greenback remained subdued to the benefit of its major counterparts while AUD/USD put in a mixed performance

Looking ahead, highlights include UK jobs report, US PPI, DoEs, ECB’s Praet, German Bund, UK 10yr and US 30yr Bond Auction

ASIA

Asia equity markets traded mixed as the momentum from Wall St. was counterbalanced by weakness in Apple suppliers...
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