Most Markets Shut for Good Friday
April 22, 2011
With very few markets trading, overnight price movements were very minimal.
The dollar has risen 0.2% against the yen and yuan and by 0.1% against the Canadian dollar. The U.S. currency is unchanged versus the Australian dollar and sterling and down 0.1% against the euro, Swissy, and kiwi.
Gold set yet another all-time high of $1512.47 per ounce but is just 0.3% higher on balance at $1503.80. Oil advanced 0.8% to $112.29 per barrel.
The 10-year JGB yield slid two basis points to 1.22%. The Nikkei closed down less than 0.1%. Stocks fell 0.5% in China and 0.4% in Thailand and were unchanged in South Korea.
The list of market closures includes Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, and Singapore. U.S. and Canadian markets will also not open this Good Friday.
French business sentiment printed a little higher than forecast at 110 in April. The reading for March was revised up a point to 110. Previously such cored 106 in both January and February, 104 last October and 98 in September.
Italian retail sales firmed 0.1% on month and was unchanged on year in February, a shade less than anticipated.
Japan’s ruling cabinet approved a JPY 4.02 trillion emergency budget, two-fifths of which will be for infrastructure. Another supplementary budget will probably be larger than this one.
Dutch consumer spending was 0.3% higher than a year earlier in February.
The main event next week with be the FOMC statement and the ensuing Bernanke press conference in which he will not doubt be quizzed about future quantitative easing, the slip-sliding dollar, and rising commodity prices.
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2011. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Good Friday, Japan Cabinet
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