Daily Market Commentary 19th April 2021

The University of Michigan Economic Sentiment report was positive, but weaker than expected. US Building Permits increased 2.7%, while Housing Starts exploded, increasing 19.4% for the previous month. US earnings season is going well and economic confidence is pushing equity markets to record and historical highs. The rising threat of inflation and deficit/debt have been relegated to the back burner. The US 10 year Bond Yield trades below 1.6% and the US Dollar remains weak.

The EUR traded 1.1980, while the GBP broke back above 1.3800, supported by the mired reserve. Chinese Retail Sales surged to a 34.2% increase, while GDP increased by 18.3%, annually. Chinese Industrial Production was up 14.1%, but this missed expectations, as supply issues and input costs come into play. The commodity currencies settled, with the AUD drifting to 0.7730, while the NZD traded below 0.7150.

The coming week will be off to a slow start, in terms of economic data releases, but the momentum will build. There will be a lot of emphasis on global growth and inflation numbers, while PMI data will come into play later in the week.