ASIA:

Some Bank of Japan board members were concerned that excessive currency volatility could disrupt corporate business plans, minutes of the bank’s April meeting showed, highlighting the challenge for policymakers from the yen’s sharp declines. At the April 27-28 meeting, the BOJ strengthened its commitment to keep interest rates ultra-low by vowing to buy unlimited amounts of bonds daily to defend its yield target, triggering a fresh sell-off in the yen. The weak yen has become a fresh challenge for Japanese policymakers as it hurts the economy by inflating already rising costs of importing fuel and raw material goods.

The major Asian stock markets had a negative day today:

• NIKKEI 225 decreased 96.76 points or -0.37% to 26,149.55
• Shanghai decreased 39.52 points or -1.20% to 3,267.20
• Hang Seng decreased 551.25 points or -2.56% to 21,008.34
• ASX 200 decreased 15.30 points or -0.23% to 6,508.50
• Kospi decreased 66.12 points or -2.74% to 2,342.81
• SENSEX decreased 709.54 points or -1.35% to 51,822.53
• Nifty50 decreased 225.50 points or -1.44% to 15,413.30

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD decreased 0.00247 or -0.35% to 0.69331

• NZDUSD decreased 0.00413 or -0.65% to 0.62877

• USDJPY decreased 0.158 or -0.12% to 136.183

• USDCNY increased 0.0154 or 0.23% to 6.70660

Precious Metals:

l Gold increased 6.05 USD/t oz. or 0.33% to 1,838.61

l Silver decreased 0.196 USD/t. oz or -0.90% to 21.470

Some economic news from last night:

Australia:

MI Leading Index (MoM) increased from -0.2% to -0.1%

New Zealand:

Credit Card Spending (YoY) increased from 1.3% to 2.2%

Exports (May) increased from 6.16B to 6.95B

Imports (May) increased from 5.72B to 6.69B

Trade Balance (MoM) (May) decreased from 440M to 263M

Trade Balance (YoY) (May) decreased from -9,290M to -9,520M

Some economic news from today:

India:

Current Account (USD) decreased from 24.000B to -38.700B

Balance of Payments (USD) (Q1) decreased from 0.500B to -16.000B

Current Account % of GDP (QoQ) (Q1) decreased from 2.70% to 1.50%

Current Account (USD) (Q1) increased from -22.20B to -13.40B

Trade Balance (USD) (Q1) increased from -60.400B to -54.500B

EUROPE/EMEA:

UK inflation, the rate at which prices rise, edged up to 9.1% in the 12 months to May, from 9% in April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Fuel and energy prices are the biggest drivers of inflation, but the ONS said food costs had pushed it up further. Currently, inflation is at the highest level since March 1982, when it also stood at 9.1% and the Bank of England has warned it will reach 11% this year.

The major Europe stock markets had a negative day:

l CAC 40 decreased 48.03 points or -0.81% to 5,916.63

l FTSE 100 decreased 62.83 points or -0.88% to 7,089.22

l DAX 30 decreased 148.12 points or -1.11% to 13,144.28

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD increased 0.00464 or 0.44% to 1.05777
• GBPUSD increased 0.00073 or 0.06% to 1.22707
• USDCHF decreased 0.00391 or -0.40% to 0.96219

Some economic news from Europe today:

UK:

House Price Index (YoY) increased from 9.8% to 12.4%

PPI Input (MoM) (May) decreased from 2.7% to 2.1%

CPI (MoM) (May) decreased from 2.5% to 0.7%

CPI (YoY) (May) increased from 9.0% to 9.1%

Euro Zone:

Consumer Confidence (Jun) decreased from -21.2 to -23.6

US/AMERICAS:

Powell addressed Congress today to tell the public what they needed to hear – the Federal Reserve is prioritizing inflation. “At the Fed, we understand the hardship high inflation is causing. We are strongly committed to bringing inflation back down, and we are moving expeditiously to do so,” Powell said. The Fed will need to see “compelling evidence” that inflation is gradually decreasing before they redirect its course. “We anticipate that ongoing rate increases will be appropriate; the pace of those changes will continue to depend on the incoming data and the evolving outlook for the economy.” The last rate hike of 75 basis points was the largest on record since 1994. Although he did not indicate what to expect in July, Powell said he sees rates continuing to rise to a “moderately restrictive level.”

US Market Closings:

• Dow declined 47.12 points or -0.15% to 30,483.13
• S&P 500 declined 4.9 points or -0.13% to 3,759.89
• Nasdaq declined 16.22 points or -0.15% to 11,053.08
• Russell 2000 declined 3.75 points or -0.22% to 1,690.28

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite declined 253.25 points or -1.32% to 19,004.04
• TSX 60 declined 12.65 points or -1.08% to 1,155.42

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa declined 162.18 points or -0.16% to 99,522.32

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a mixed day today:

l Crude Oil decreased 4.41 USD/BBL or -3.99% to 106.240

l Brent decreased 3.18 USD/BBL or -2.77% to 111.47

l Natural gas increased 0.073 USD/MMBtu or 1.07% to 6.8540

l Gasoline decreased 0.022 USD/GAL or -0.58% to 3.7725

l Heating oil decreased 0.0786 USD/GAL or -1.80% to 4.2798

The above data was collected around 13:05 EST on Wednesday

• Top commodity gainers: Rubber (1.28%), Natural Gas (1.07%), Rhodium (1.12%) and Coffee (2.32%)

• Top commodity losers: Canola (-4.22%), Bitumen (-2.96%), Palm Oil (-9.66%) and Crude Oil (-3.99%)

The above data was collected around 13:12 EST on Wednesday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.238%(+0.3bp), US 2’s 3.07% (-0.126%), US 10’s 3.1561% (-12.26bps); US 30’s 3.24% (-0.106%), Bunds 1.630% (-13.2bp), France 2.1720% (-16.6bp), Italy 3.648% (-14.3bp), Turkey 18.87% (+0bp), Greece 3.868% (-4.7bp), Portugal 2.700% (-11.3bp); Spain 2.735% (-11.7bp) and UK Gilts 2.4880% (-16.3bp).