Themes

· General mood is “risk off”

· U.S. Initial Claims print as expected at 215k

· OPEC+ will maintain its production schedule next week, supporting oil prices

What’s Moving

European trading was quiet overnight, before the New York open, which saw a strong rally on oil (after OPEC+ confirmed production for next week) and U.S. stocks. Equities were supported by a batch of broadly better earnings reports, which saw tech and consumer stocks lead the way firmer.

Better oil prices helped to support the CAD over the day, which firmer stocks helped Sterling to grin higher. The rest of the majors held within recent ranges and traded fairly orderly over the session.

Crypto markets were again hit hard overnight, with Ethereum off as much as 7%.

Thoughts

Expect a very quiet day in Asia today, with a lac of clear directional cues from offshore, combining with the local Friday effect and ahead of Monday’s U.S. Memorial Day holiday.

Asian session data today sees:

· Japanese Tokyo Core CPI (E: 2.0%)

· Australian Retail Sales (E: +0.9%)