Opening, Oct 15

In Asian Equity Markets indices inched higher on Tuesday as some investors held out hope that Britain still had a chance to avoid a messy exit from the European Union at key negotiations this week. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.01%. Australian shares were up 0.12%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index rose 1.38%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.2%.  Shanghai Composite bucked the trend as the index fell 0.3%.


In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar hovered below 2-1/2-month highs against the yen on Tuesday, failing to extend recent gains as optimism over trade negotiations between the world’s two largest economies and for an orderly British exit from the European Union started to fade. In Asian trade, the dollar was steady at 108.35 against the yen, still not far from its 2-1/2-month high of 108.63 yen marked on Friday.


In Commodities Markets oil prices fell again on Tuesday after falling heavily in the previous session, as weak Chinese economic data for September added to lingering concerns about the feasibility of the U.S.-China trade deal announced by President Trump late last week. Brent crude futures fell 30 cents, or 0.5%, to $59.067 barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures was at $53.38 a barrel, down 21 cents or 0.4%.


In US Equity Markets edged lower on Monday as uncertainties following recent U.S.-China trade negotiations clouded sentiment and investors turned their focus on the third-quarter earnings season, which begins in earnest on Tuesday. the S&P 500 lost 0.14%, to 2,966.18 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%, to 8,048.65. Nike Inc  advanced 1.1% after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the sportswear maker’s stock to “neutral” from “underperform.”.


In Bond Markets the U.S. Treasuries fell during Monday’s afternoon session amid a muted trading day that witnessed data of little economic significance ahead of the country’s retail sales for the month of September. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose 2 basis points to 1.734 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yield also gained nearly 2 basis points to 2.197 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year too traded 2 basis points higher at 1.598 percent.