German Factory Orders Beat Expectations

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From Trading Economics: German industrial orders went up 1.0 percent month-on-month in August of 2016, following an upwardly revised 0.3 percent rise in July and beating market consensus of a 0.2 percent gain. It was the second straight month of growth and the highest reading since March, driven by strong demand from the eurozone and domestic customers. In August, domestic demand rose 2.6 percent while foreign orders fell 0.2 percent. New orders from the euro area were up 4.1 percent. In contrast, those from other countries decreased by 2.8 percent.

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In Asian Equity Markets stocks firmed on Thursday thanks to stronger U.S. economic data, while growing prospects of a near-term U.S. rate hike and possible tapering of stimulus in Europe hit gold and lifted the dollar to one-month highs versus the yen. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 0.4 percent. Helped by gains in such cyclical stocks as financials and exporters, the Nikkei gained 0.8 percent to 16,949.51 points. The broader Topix rose 0.8 percent to 1,357.98 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 added 0.8 percent to 12,161.77. The Australian index, S&P/ASX 200, rose 0.39 percent. Markets in China are shut for a week-long holiday.

In Currency Markets the dollar stuck to narrow ranges against its major rivals in Asian trade on Thursday, ahead of this week's nonfarm payrolls report that could reinforce expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by December. Beleaguered sterling fell 0.3 percent to $1.2715 after falling as low as $1.2686 on Wednesday. The dollar took a breather from its overnight run-up against its Japanese counterpart. It was buying 103.42 yen, down 0.1 percent. The euro was steady at $1.1201, supported by higher European bond yields on concerns the European Central Bank might taper the pace of bond-buying before its asset purchase program ends. The dollar index was up 0.1 percent at 96.212.

In Commodities Markets oil futures fell on Thursday after Saudi Arabia trimmed the price of its flagship crude to Asia, but were still near more than three-month highs following a fall in U.S. crude inventories. U.S. WTI crude futures were trading at $49.55 per barrel, down 0.6 percent from their last settlement. International Brent futures were down 0.5 percent, at $51.58 per barrel. Both contracts hit their highest levels since June on Wednesday after the U.S. EIA said crude stockpiles fell 3 million barrels last week to 499.74 million barrels.  Spot gold edged lower 0.1 percent at $1,264.90 an ounce, while silver was nearly unchanged at $17.70 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.4 percent to $971.80 an ounce and palladium was down 0.1 percent at $676.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose Wednesday led by the energy sector as oil prices rallied and as financials gained on the increasing likelihood of an interest rate hike after strong economic data. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.62 percent, to 18,281.03, the S&P 500 gained 0.43 percent, to 2,159.73 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5 percent, to 5,316.02. The higher chance of a Fed rate hike hurt rate-sensitive sectors like real estate, which fell 1.9 percent. The energy sector of the S&P 500 added 1.4 percent. Twitter rose 5.7 percent after the Wall Street Journal reported it is expected to field bids this week. Salesforce fell 5.8 percent after a Mizuho analyst raised concerns over the company's eventual bid for Twitter.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday after data showing strong hiring in the services sector boosted hiring expectations for Friday's highly anticipated jobs report. Benchmark 10-year notes fell 11/32 in price to yield 1.72 percent, up from 1.68 percent late on Tuesday. The yields have climbed from a low of 1.53 percent on Friday. The Institute for Supply Management said on Wednesday that U.S. services sector activity rebounded to an 11-month high in September, while its employment index was also the highest since October 2015.

Source: Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management