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OVERNIGHT MARKET SNAPSHOT FOR THURSDAY 17/12/20 (as at 8am AEDT)
- SPI200 (Dec) overnight futures up 26 pts to 6637
- SP500 up 8.69 pts to 3703.31
- NASDAQ up 63.13 pts to 12,658.19
- Dow Jones down 44.77 pts to 30,154.54
- FTSE100 up 57.59 pts to 6570.91
- DAX30 up 203.11 pts to 13,565.98
- GOLD futures US session (Dec) up $5.60 to $1857.90 an ounce
- COPPER futures US session (Comex Mar) up $0.0170 to $3.5615 a pound
- OIL futures US Session (Nymex Jan) up $0.22 to $47.84 a barrel
- CRB Index up 0.84 pts to 163.86
- AUDUSD trading at 0.7572
- EURUSD trading at 1.2185
- GBPUSD trading at 1.3492
- USDJPY trading at 103.5000
- USD Index US Session (ICE Dec) down 0.174 to 90.235
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US indexes end mixed thanks to a late rally after the FOMC statement while the Nasdaq pushes into new all time highs. The Fed Reserve repeated its pledge to keep interest rates near zero and continue to funnel cash into markets to stimulate the economy. Nothing of note changed from the Fed so investors still await news on fiscal stimulus from Congress. The coming stimulus is already baked into the price so will need to hit the mark for traders in order to fend off a spike lower. If it does not meet expectations, expect to see some volatility and traders lock in gains. The DOW closed down 0.15% while the broader SP500 ended up 0.24% and the Nasdaq closed up 0.50% for the session. In Europe, major Indexes ended the day in the green with the DAX finally breaking through key highs on the European open to spike into new territory and is now gunning for new all time highs. A lift in business activity data along with a possible role out of a vaccine and hopes for a Brexit deal helped to support the bulls and may see a solid end to the year.
The USD Index was creeping higher into the FOMC Press Conference before nosediving to give back the gains. The Index continues to pressure lower and target a move down below 90.000 as traders await for fiscal stimulus news. As long as the news is not forthcoming, expect the pressure lower to continue with the odd flush higher to clean out some sellers. The EURUSD spiked higher on the back of the positive manufacturing data release before moving lower ahead of the Fed news. Price moved inversely to the USD once the data was released after testing support at 1.2125. Buyers may need to settle and retest the 1.2170 area before continuing the push higher. The GBPUSD was less active than the Euro as traders were held in check by the lack of Brexit news. Hope that a deal is near provided support to buyers along with the dollar weakness although price is struggling to hold a spike higher through major longer term resistance levels around 1.3490. The AUDUSD held a higher level at 0.7545 and looks set to push up to new levels if sellers can not hold the 0.7575 resistance zone. For now, price is linked to risk into the major Indexes and range bound in the short term. The USDJPY is moving in tandem with the Dollar for now as price pushed to new lows through 103.500. The action did get choppy over the FOMC release but continues to be biased down.
SPOT GOLD managed to hold on to the gains from the previous session after a flush lower to the 1844 area. Buyers managed to regain the lost ground and look intent on retesting up to the key 1880 area. If they can make a significant break of the level, then much higher levels may be on the cards. This will depend on the USD of course and the action once the stimulus package is realized. Crude Oil continues to edge higher on prospects for increasing global demand. Price was supported by weaker than expected inventory data. A higher low now at 47.20 is holding the action up for now. Copper spent most of the US session edging lower before getting a boost from the dollar weakness into the close. Price continues to hold higher levels but is lacking some previous conviction from bulls into highs around 3.6110.
Cryptocurrencies had a big night with Bitcoin smashing up through the 20000 mark and dragging other pairs with it. Bitcoin is now trading at $20797.7 up 6.05% while Ethereum is at $622.98 up 5.16% and Ripple is at $0.51902 up 6.75%.
The ASX200 had a strong open yesterday and rallied into the afternoon before sellers stepped in to push price back down into the close. There may have been some profit taking coming in ahead of Employment data today as the index only managed to end the day up 47.9 points to 6679.2 after being 40 points higher earlier on. The IT sector followed the US lead while Gold also put in a good showing, both up 263%, while Miners and Resources also did well. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by 662 to 631 and 362 ended unchanged.
The ASX200 is expected to open up 30 points as the SPI200 traded back up to the day sessions highs.
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ECONOMIC DATA OUT TODAY (AEDT)
NZD GDP 8:45am
AUD Unemployment Rate and Employment Change 11:30am
CHF SNB Monetary Policy Assessment and Policy Rate 7:30pm
EUR Final CPI Data 9pm
GBP Official Bank Rate and Monetary Policy Summary 11pm
GBP Asset Purchase Facility 11pm
USD Unemployment Claims 12:30pm
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SPI200 INTRADAY LEVELS TO WATCH
