Stock Market Update

The S&P 500 futures currently trade six points above fair value.

Most equity indices in the Asia-Pacific climbed on Wednesday with South Korea's Kospi (+1.6%) extending its record run. January Services PMI readings from the region were largely better-than-expected, showing accelerating activity. India's trade minister said that the deal with the U.S., which will remove tariffs on most industrial goods imports from the U.S., is nearly finalized. Vietnam's trade minister said that his country is willing to increase purchases of machinery and high-tech products from the U.S.

• In economic data:
  • China's January RatingDog Services PMI 52.3 (expected 52.0; last 52.0)
  • Japan's January Services PMI 53.7 (expected 53.4; last 51.6)
  • Hong Kong's January Manufacturing PMI 52.3 (last 51.9)
  • India's January Services PMI 58.5 (expected 59.3; last 58.0)
  • Australia's January Services PMI 56.3 (expected 56.0; last 51.1)
  • New Zealand's Q4 Employment Change 0.5% qtr/qtr (expected 0.3%; last 0.0%), Q4 Unemployment Rate 5.4% (expected 5.3%; last 5.3%), Q4 Participation Rate 70.5% (expected 70.3%; last 70.3%). Q4 Labor Cost Index 0.4% qtr/qtr (expected 0.5%; last 0.5%); 2.0% yr/yr, as expected (last 2.1%)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei: -0.8%
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng: +0.1%
• China's Shanghai Composite: +0.9%
• India's Sensex: +0.1%
• South Korea's Kospi: +1.6%
• Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: +0.6%

Major European indices trade on a mostly higher note while Germany's DAX (-0.1%) has failed to keep pace with losses in Deutsche Bank, Siemens, SAP, and Infineon weighing the market down. Elsewhere, UBS beat quarterly expectations while Credit Agricole reported a drop in profit. The Times Shadow Committee unanimously recommended that the Bank of England keeps its bank rate at 3.75% tomorrow. Similarly, the European Central Bank is also expected to leave its policy unchanged tomorrow.

• In economic data:
  • Eurozone's January Services PMI 51.6 (expected 51.9; last 52.4). Flash January CPI -0.5% m/m (last 0.2%); 1.7% yr/yr, as expected (last 2.3%). January Core CPI 2.2% yr/yr (expected 2.3%; last 2.3%)
  • Germany's January Services PMI 52.4 (expected 53.3; last 52.7)
  • U.K.'s January Services PMI 54.0 (expected 54.3; last 51.4)
  • France's January Services PMI 48.4 (expected 47.9; last 50.1)
  • Italy's January Services PMI 52.9 (expected 51.3; last 51.5). Flash January CPI 0.4% m/m, as expected (last 0.2%); 1.0% yr/yr, as expected (last 1.2%)
  • Spain's January Services PMI 53.5 (expected 56.6; last 57.1)

---Equity Markets---

• STOXX Europe 600: +0.5%
• Germany's DAX: -0.3%
• U.K.'s FTSE 100: +1.4%
• France's CAC 40: +1.0%
• Italy's FTSE MIB: +1.0%
• Spain's IBEX 35: +0.6%