EQUITIES

Asian shares higher in the morning trade. Mainland Chinese stocks, China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.41% and 0.71%, while Nikkei 225 up 0.32%, Singapore’s gained 0.41%, Sounth Korea’s KOSPI up 0.96%, and Australia S&P/ASX 200 loss by -0.18%.

On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.17%, the S&P 500 rose 0.32%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.06%.

OIL

Oil prices edged higher on Friday. Brent crude futures traded to $45.06 a barrel, while U.S. crude at $42.62.

On Thursday, Brent closed at $44.90 per barrel, while WTI futures ended at $42.58 per barrel.

CURRENCIES

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 92.66 after seeing levels below 92.4 earlier in the trading week, on course for its ninth consecutive weekly decline.

The dollar was on the defensive against most currencies on Friday after a rise in U.S. jobless claims and a dip in Treasury yields dampened the appeal of holding the greenback. Traders in the euro are looking ahead to the release later Friday of manufacturing data for the euro zone and for Germany, Europe’s largest economy.

The Japanese yen traded at 105.67 per dollar after touching levels above 106 against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar edged up to $0.7201, while the New Zealand dollar held steady at $0.6535. The Thai baht is tracking for its worst week in a month as investors begin to fret about political unrest.

GOLD

Gold prices rebounded overnight and after the U.S. jobless data on demand for the safe-haven asset. Gold currently trading at $1,944.50 per ounce, while stands around $1,953.20 per ounce for gold futures. Previously closed at $1,946.60 and $1,946.50, respectively.

Silver trading at $27.33, platinum trading at $915.00 and palladium trading at $2,090.00.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Asia Pacific stocks edged higher in Friday morning trade following the tech-driven rally on Wall Street and the release of mixed U.S. economic data overnight.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose back above the 1 million mark last week, data showed on Thursday in a setback for a U.S. job market.

Japan’s core CPI, which includes oil products but excludes volatile fresh food prices, remain unchanged in July from a year earlier. The BOJ projects consumer prices to fall 0.5% this fiscal year to next March and stay well below its 2% target through early 2023.

China confirmed plans to talk with U.S. officials soon to review progress on their preliminary deal. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said he cancelled those plans because he is unhappy with China’s role in the Covid-19 pandemic.

To date, number of confirmed worldwide cases for COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed 22.86 million affecting 213 countries and territories around the world and 2 international conveyances, recording more than 797 thousand fatality globally.

TECHNICAL OUTLOOK

[USDJPY]

Important Levels to Watch for Today:

- Resistance line of 106.207 and 106.435.

- Support line of 105.459 and 105.241.

Commentary/ Reason:

- The greenback was quoted at 105.65 yen after a 0.3% decline yesterday.

- Both Stochastic and RSI oscillators are still lingering within the undervalued ranges, after briefly retreated from the range.

- The MACD is trading below its signal line and negative. The configuration is negative.