Equities
Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday amid the company’s encouraging earnings report.
The ASX 200 (+0.7%), was driven by strong performance in the technology sector and almost all other sectors also closed higher.
The Nikkei 225 (+0.3%) was supported by the weakness of the Japanese Yen after Japan’s trade balance showed an increase in total exports and imports.
Hang Seng (+1.2%), and Shanghai Composite (horizontal), Hong Kong’s stock market strength was driven by improvements in the technology and healthcare sectors.
Commodities
WTI crude futures traded below the $ 82 a barrel level on Wednesday as supply and demand imbalances in the energy market continued amid rising coal and natural gas prices due to falling temperatures ahead of the winter.
Gold prices hovered around the $ 1,775 level, amid a positive market mood and a recovery in U.S. Treasury bond yields.
Forex
The dollar index (DXY) remained below the 94.00 level on Wednesday as rising global market sentiment prompted investors to exit safe-haven currencies such as the USD despite 10-year Treasury yields at a 4-month high.
The Fed Waller expressed the view that the central bank should do tapering on its asset purchases as soon as possible and complete it by mid-2022, while Barkin and Bowman touched on complications in the labor market, adding that inflationary pressures will remain longer than previously expected.
In addition, the Pound weakened slightly following annual inflation reports in the UK declining to 3.1% in September from 3.2% in the previous month, and lower than market forecasts. However, this data may have only a small impact on the Pound as inflationary pressures are still above the central bank’s target.
Next, the Japanese Yen became increasingly depressed after Japan’s trade balance showed an increase in total exports and imports, and amid a positive environment in the market.
Finally, NZD & AUD remain as market leaders as investors are seen to be more optimistic about high-yielding currencies amid good market conditions on Wednesday.
There is an expectation of an interest rate hike by the RBNZ following the latest inflation rate hike and ANZ Bank is accelerating its forecast that the RBNZ will raise its rates by August 2022 from its previous forecast by the end of 2022.
