CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Wed 18 Dec, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
U.S. Dollar Index, -0.22%, 96.752
USDJPY, +0.02%, 109.53
EURUSD, +0.07%, 1.1151
GBPUSD, -1.57%, 1.3122
USDCAD, +0.08%, 1.3162
AUDUSD, -0.50%, 0.6851
NZDUSD, -0.44%, 0.6568
U.S. Total housing starts increased 3.2% m/m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.365 million (consensus 1.340 million) while total building permits increased 1.4% m/m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.482 million (consensus 1.400 million). Industrial production increased 1.1% in November (consensus 0.8%) after declining a revised 0.9% (from -0.8%) in October. The capacity utilization rate increased to 77.3% (consensus 77.4%) from a revised 76.6% (from 76.7%) in October. U.S. Treasuries finished little changed. Both the 2-yr yield and 10-yr yield remained unchanged at 1.63% and 1.89%, respectively. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.2% to 97.22. WTI crude rose 1.2%, or $0.69, to $60.90/bbl. RBA minutes shows that the central bank is concerned with wage growth being too weak to revive either inflation or consumption and that they are ready to ease again if need be.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, +0.00%, 3,194.38
Nasdaq, +0.32%, 8,603.38
Nikkei Futures, +0.11%, 23,967.5
Shares of Boeing (BA 327.00, unch,) were volatile after the company confirmed it will suspend 737 MAX production starting in January. Separately, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 143.56, +1.77, +1.3%) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley, and Eli Lilly (LLY 125.33, +2.48, +2.0%) provided upside FY20 guidance. In M&A activity, LogMeIn (LOGM 85.95, +3.54, +4.3%) agreed to be acquired by affiliates of Francisco Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital for $4.3 billion in cash. Tallgrass Energy (TGE 22.14, +3.85, +21.1%) agreed to be taken private by Blackstone (BX 54.58, +0.05, +0.1%) in a $6.3 billion deal. On the earnings front, Jabil (JBL 43.43, +2.79, +6.9%) topped expectations and raised its FY20 guidance, while Navistar (NAV 28.97, -3.38, -10.5%) missed revenue estimates.