By Margaret Yang, CMC Markets
Euro dips further after ECB keep rate unchanged
As was widely expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) kept interest rates unchanged at record lows yesterday. The euro initially jumped 0.5% against the greenback before falling back to 1.0920 shortly after that. This is the lowest level observed for EUR/USD over the last three and half months.
The ECB meeting gave few clues as to how it will proceed with the massive 80 billion euro a month asset purchasing program beyond March next year. Mr Draghi said the council wanted to wait until December 8 to take stock of new forecasts for growth and inflation. He added that Thursday’s discussions had not addressed extending QE beyond March.
The immediate support levels for EUR/USD can be found at around 1.0910 and 1.0820.
Microsoft jumps 5.6% as earnings beat estimates
The release of Microsoft’s latest quarterly earnings showed that it has far outperformed market expectations and the good news sent Microsoft shares higher in after – hours trading. The company’s earnings per share (EPS) rose 6 % to 76 cents, above consensus forecasts of 68 cents. The strong earnings figures were supported by the company’s effort to shift towards cloud computing, which has showed fast growth the recent years.
Keppel Corp 3Q earnings tumble 38%
The World’s largest oil rig builder – Keppel Corp – posted a 38 %drop in net profits in the third quarter when compared to a year ago, due to the low oil prices and weakness in the oil & gas business. It’s earning per share dropped to 12 cents, which is also below market expectation of 15 cents. It’s share price was trading around 1.8% lower this morning.
The prolonged commodity downturn, especially the low oil price environment, has hurt many aspects of Singapore’s economy. The pain has been reflected in corporate earnings and the company’s’ layoff plans. Rising concerns about bonds defaulting and non-performing loans will further dampen market confidence in the near term.
EUR/USD
Margaret Yang Yan, CFA, is a market analyst for CMC Markets Singapore.
