Asia Morning June 17

Asia Morning: U.S. Stocks Charge Higher on Upbeat Data

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks advanced further, as investors were encouraged by upbeat retail sales readings and a news report of a potential one-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan by the government. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee: "Until the public is confident that the disease is contained, a full recovery is unlikely."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 526 points (+2.0%) to 26290, the S&P 500 increased 58 points (+1.9%) to 3124, and the Nasdaq 100 was up 172 points (+1.8%) to 9949.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: Daily Chart

Source: GAIN Capital, TradingView

Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences (+3.02%), Energy (+2.82%) and Technology Hardware & Equipment (+2.63%) sectors were market leaders. Eli Lilly (LLY +15.68%), Nordstrom Inc (JWN +12.91%), Kohls Corp (KSS +8.96%), Vulcan Materials (VMC +8.76%) and Gap (GPS +8.48%) were top gainers.

On the technical side, about 41.3% (39.3% in the prior session) of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average, and 53.8% (46.2% in the prior session) were trading above their 20-day moving average.

U.S. official data showed that Retail Sales surged 17.7% on month in May (+8.4% expected), the biggest increase on record. Industrial Production rose 1.4% on month in May (+3.0% expected).

Due later today will be Housing Starts for May (an increase to an annualized rate of 1.100 million units expected).

European stocks recorded beefy gains, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index advancing 2.9%. Germany's DAX surged 3.4%, France's CAC rose 2.8%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 jumped 2.9%.

U.S. government bond prices remained under pressure, as the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield settled higher at 0.754%.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,725 an ounce.

Oil prices rose for a second session, as economic recovery expectations were boosted by better-than-expected U.S. retail sales data. U.S. WTI crude oil futures (July) climbed 3.4% to $38.38 a barrel.

On the forex front, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.5% on day to 97.03, lifted by a record gain in U.S. retail sales.

EUR/USD slid 0.6% to 1.1260. German ZEW Current Situation Index improved to -83.1 in June (-82.0 expected) from -93.5 in May and Expectations Index climbed to 63.4 (60.0 expected) from 51.0.

GBP/USD fell 0.3% to 1.2571. Official data showed that U.K. jobless rate was steady at 3.9% in the three months to April (4.7% expected). On the other hand, CPI data for May will be released later today (+0.5% on year expected).

USD/JPY was broadly flat at 107.38. The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark rate unchanged at -0.10% as expected, while expanding its special lending program to 110 trillion yen from 75 trillion yen. This morning, government data showed that Japan's exports decline 28.3% on year in May (-26.1% expected) and imports sank 26.2% (-20.4% expected),

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