Stocks move higher at the end of the week, JPY on the back foot

Summary:

• Mixed session in Europe

• Gains seen in the first half of the US session

• JPY pulls back as risk appetite rises

• CAD slumps on disappointing data

• Chinese growth misses estimates

European equities finished the week mixed with gains seen on the UK and Spanish stock markets while declines were spotted in Germany and France. Throughout the major part of the European session stocks indices from the Old Continent underperformed but began to recoup losses as the US markets opened.

Stock market indices from Wall Street are trading higher since the very launch of today’s session. Among reasons one can name strong corporate earnings with Procter & Gamble and PayPal surging. Housing market data released earlier barely had any impact on valuations of the US assets.

On the currency front we can see that New Zealand dollar is the outperformer among majors. However, no news surfaced that could reason such move therefore it can be ascribed to the weakness of the other currencies. Japanese yen and Swiss franc underperform as investors show appetite for riskier assets. Canadian dollar is one of the worst performing currency following the release of a data pack. Canadian inflation plunged severely and retail sales figure disappointed as well.

Majority of industrial metals trade higher today what is a sign of a risk-on mode. Oil is also trying to shrug off recent losses with Brent climbing back above the $80 handle. Gold trades flat and silver posts minor gain. Agricultural commodities trade mixed with soybean surging and coffee declining.

We encourage you to take a look at our stock of the week analysis featuring Alphabet as the company is scheduled to report earnings next week.