9th January 2017, GTC Advisors – World Markets and the Week Ahead

GENEVA - Jan. 9, 2017 - PRLog -- World stock markets were mixed Monday while the dollar regained some strength after a U.S. job report showed strong wage gains, giving more ammunition to U.S. policymakers planning further rate rises.

KEEPING SCORE: European shares were mostly lower in early trading. France's CAC 40 slid 0.3 percent to 4,893.97 and Germany's DAX lost 0.2 percent to 11,571.95. Britain's FTSE 100 edged up 0.1 percent to 7.214.30. U.S. shares were poised to open higher. Dow futures crept up less than 0.1 percent to 19,904.00 and broader S&P 500 futures added 0.1 percent to 2,272.80.

ASIA'S DAY: Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index advanced 0.3 percent to close at 22,558.69 while the Shanghai Composite in mainland China rose 0.5 percent to 3,171.24. South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.1 percent to 2,048.78 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.9 percent to 5,807.40. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday. Benchmarks in Southeast Asia were mixed.

US JOBS: Friday's Labor Department report painted a mixed picture of U.S. employment. It showed that companies added a solid but slightly disappointing 156,000 jobs in December. On the other hand, hourly pay jumped 2.9 percent from the year before, which was the biggest monthly increase in seven years. For 2016 overall, job growth in the world's biggest economy remained steady, although the pace was slower than in 2015.

ANALYST VIEW: "U.S. markets have closed off the first week of the year with a steady set of gains across sectors and the same can be seen in most Asian markets," said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore. "With improving indicators in the U.S. and across Asia, we could see a second set of gains ... in this data-filled week."

WEEK AHEAD: Potential market-moving events this week include the release of China inflation and Japanese consumer confidence figures on Tuesday. On Wednesday, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has scheduled a long-awaited news conference on his global business empire, though Asian markets won't be able to react until the following day. Chinese trade data and U.S. retail sales numbers are due at the end of the week.

CHINA OUTFLOWS: Official data showed that China's foreign exchange reserves contracted in December for the sixth straight month, falling by $41 billion to just over $3 trillion according to the People's Bank of China. The central bank said Saturday its effort to stabilize the yuan was a major reason for the drop in forex reserves. The latest figures underline Beijing's willingness to use its huge stockpile of foreign currency to stabilize the yuan, which has been declining as residents and companies send more money overseas amid flagging confidence in China's economy.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 117.14 yen from 116.93 yen in late trading Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.0539 from $1.0533. The pound weakened to $1.2180 from $1.2295.

ENERGY: U.S. benchmark crude oil slipped 34 cents to $53.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contact rose 23 cents to close at $53.99 a barrel on Friday. Brent crude, which is used to price oil sold internationally, lost 42 cents to $56.68 a barrel in London.

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