Market Outlook

Asian stocks were generally closed higher on Friday, following the momentum overnight. The economic figures of the US were mixed. The US Labor Department announced that the initial weekly jobless claims bounced to 1.106 million, which is higher than the market expectation of 925000.

The three major Wall Street indexes were mixed overnight, while the fresh rally in tech stocks supported the Nasdaq, making another record high. The drop of the US Treasury yields also propped up investor confidence. Stocks in Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, basically following the momentum on Monday. Gold price extends the gain, hitting $2000 level, as the dollar is still bearish, that may trigger another breakthrough, especially before the minutes from Fed this week.

In the late Asian session on Friday, the dollar jumped up, showing signs of risk aversion. The US futures drop, of which the DOW future is trading 150 points lower. This weekend, China and the US will hold a meeting to review the first phase of the trade deal, which may trigger profit taking activities.

The price of gold and silver have experienced a crash on Tuesday after the massive gain these weeks. Gold price plummeted nearly 6%, more than $100 per ounce, and the silver price plummeted more than 15%.

Stocks in Asia Pacific mostly traded lower as China-US tensions has triggered sell-off pressure in the markets on Friday. The US President Trump issued executive orders, which ban the American firms to deal with the Tencent, the Chinese giant tech firm. Overnight on Wall Street, market sentiment remained positive as investors were still looking forward to the new economic stimulus package from the US, and the initial jobless claims last week totaled 1.186 million, lowest since the pandemic began, and also far lower than the market expectation of 1.4 million.

European stocks are generally opening higher on Tuesday, following the optimistic sentiment from the stock markets in Asian region. Last night, the three major Wall Street indexes all rose, which the Nasdaq made a new high, as investors reacted to the positive manufacturing data in the US and the jump of Microsoft and Apple.

However, the greenback didn’t get any support under risk aversion. The dollar index broke 93 level on Thursday, and dropped to a further low of 92.55 on Friday, a low since May 2018. It is believed that the political uncertainty hurt the attractiveness of dollar after President Trump suggested to delay the presidential election.

Stock markets in Asian region were mostly higher on Tuesday, while there are both bullish and bearish news overnight. Optimism was boosted after those companies announced the vaccine developments are now taking step to the late-stage trials. However, the tensions between China and the US is still a big reason for investors to seek safe haven, causing gold price reached a new record high of $1940 level. Silver price even jumped more than 8%，reaching $24.5 level.

Stocks in Asia Pacific Region generally dropped on Friday as the initial jobless claims data of the US missed expectations again, triggering worry about the economy recovery pace in the US. The three major Wall Street indexes all fell more than 1% on Thursday, of which the Nasdaq fell nearly 2.3%.

On Tuesday Asian session, stocks in Asia Pacific mostly rose, following the momentum of the Wall Street’s gains overnight. The positive news from the vaccines development was the main driver, making the markets turned to bullish side.