FYI: Stronger Chinese growth data lifted Asian stocks Wednesday, although European indexes were down marginally, suggesting that investors were taking a pause after several days of rising prices.
However, U.S. markets were priced to open slightly higher, with futures for both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 up 0.1%.
The Shanghai A-Share index in China and the Nikkei 225 in Japan were both up around 0.25% Wednesday after data showed first-quarter Chinese gross domestic product was better than expected, with growth of 6.4% year-over-year, boosted by very strong industrial production and much better retail sales.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index opened 0.1% lower after hitting its highest closing level in 2019 on Tuesday. Likewise, the FTSE 100, which also closed at a 2019 record, slipped 0.1% at the open.
As with U.S. stocks, the recent European rally has been a bloodless one with relatively weak trading volumes, especially this week ahead of the Easter holiday.
Evidence of an appetite for risk was visible in rising government bond yields. The U.S. 10-year Treasury rose Wednesday to 2.608%, from 2.592% on Tuesday afternoon. The German 10-year bund yield also climbed, to 0.096% from 0.069%.
Both have retraced almost all of their moves since a rush into safe assets in late March lifted prices and pushed down yields.
The 10-year German yield, which turned negative in late March and early April, is now at its highest since March 6. In the U.S., the yield gap between three-month and 10-year Treasurys, which also turned negative in late March, is at its widest since March 11.
Another haven, gold, hit its lowest price Tuesday since the depths of the stock market selloff in late December. But Wednesday, the precious metal was up 0.3% at $1,280.30, which is still its lowest since a one-day dip in late January.
Brent crude oil was up 0.46% at $72.04. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies, was down 0.2%.
Regards,
Ted
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-stocks-waver-while-asian-shares-rise-on-strong-china-data-11555488254Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-16/asia-stocks-set-for-mixed-open-ahead-of-china-data-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-netflix-earnings-netflix-stock-sprint-t-mobile-earnings-ibm-csx-ual/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/17/stock-market-earnings-in-focus-morgan-stanley-pepsico-to-report.htmlU.K.:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/mining-shares-lead-ftse-100-lower-bunzl-drops-on-weak-first-quarter-idUKKCN1RT0Q6Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks/european-shares-ease-from-eight-month-high-as-miners-weigh-idUSL5N21Z1SZAsia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-little-changed-as-chinas-economy-holds-steady-2019-04-16/printBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/17/treasury-yields-move-higher-as-corporate-earnings-lift-risk-sentiment.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/17/euro-on-backfoot-after-report-of-dovish-ecb-views-china-data-awaited.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/16/oil-markets-russia-opec-output-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/17/gold-markets-stock-markets-dollar-in-focus.htmlCurrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
