OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS
December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ14 -0.21%) this morning fell back from a 1-week high in overnight trade and are down -0.15% and European stocks slipped-0.09% after ECB Governing Council member Luc Coene told the L’Echo newspaper that the ECB has “no concrete proposal” on corporate bond buying and that “it’s too early to say if we’ll adopt additional stimulus measures.” European stocks had rallied on Tuesday after Reuters reported that the ECB is considering corporate-bond purchases to fight the threat of deflation in the Eurozone. Asian stocks closed mostly higher: Japan +2.64%, Hong Kong +1.37%, China -0.61%, Taiwan +1.09%, Australia +1.14%, Singapore closed for holiday, South Korea +1.09%, India +0.80%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index rose to a 1-week high on signs of a rebound in the Japanese economy after Japan Sep exports rose more than expected by the most in 7 months. Commodity prices are mixed. Dec crude oil (CLZ14 +0.25%) is up +0.27%. Dec gasoline (RBZ14 +0.58%) is up +0.65%. Dec gold (GCZ14 -0.25%) is down -0.46%. Dec copper (HGZ14 +0.36%) is up +0.33%. Agriculture and livestock prices are mostly higher. The dollar index (DXY00 +0.13%) is up +0.24%. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.15%. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down -0.01%. GBP/USD is down -0.37% after the minutes of the Oct 8-9 BOE policy meeting showed a majority of policy makers saw increased risks to the UK economy from a slump in the Eurozone. Dec T-note prices (ZNZ14+0.09%) are up +0.5 of a tick.
The Japan Sep trade balance unexpectedly widened to a deficit of -958.3 billion yen from a revised -949.7 billion yen deficit in Aug, when expectations were for the deficit to shrink to -780.0 billion yen. Sep exports rose +6.9% y/y, more than expectations of +6.5% y/y and the most in 7 months. Sep imports climbed +6.2% y/y, over double expectations of +2.7% y/y.
