Asia mixed, Mexican peso up 2% as US presidential debate begins :10.10.2016
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The Mexican Peso was up 1.93 percent against the greenback, at the highest levels in nearly a month, as the second US presidential debate kicked off, signalling that the markets were lengthening odds on a Trump victory.
Asian stock markets were mixed on Monday, while the Mexican peso climbed as US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump engaged in their second, closely watched debate. The Mexican Peso was up 1.93 percent against the greenback, at the highest levels in nearly a month, as the second US presidential debate kicked off, signalling that the markets were lengthening odds on a Trump victory. The race for the White House was at the center of US news at the weekend, after a 2005 "hot mic" recording emerged of GOP nominee Trump making crude comments about women. Numerous Republican senators said they could no longer back the real estate mogul as the party's presidential nominee, but Trump insisted he would not step aside. The gains in Mexico's peso came even as the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was trading at 96.462, up from levels below 95.600 early last week. Australia's benchmark index ASX 200 was up 0.28 percent, buoyed by its materials subindex, which was up 0.56 percent, and its financials sector, which was higher by 0.56 percent. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi was up 0.16 percent, recovering from earlier losses of more than 0.53 percent. Mainland Chinese markets were higher after resuming trade after the Golden Week hiatus. The Shanghai composite was up 0.71 percent, while the Shenzhen composite gained 0.676 percent. Markets in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan are shut for public holidays, while mainland Chinese markets will resume trade after the Golden Week break. Shares in Macquarie Group were up 0.32 percent, after the Financial Times reported that the Australian bank was in final negotiations to acquire the Green Investment Bank in a 2 billion pound (USD 2.49 billion) deal. On Monday, Reuters reported that Spanish-controlled engineering contractor CIMIC Group would offer AUSD 525 million (USD 400 million) to acquire its competitor UGL. This caused shares of UGL to surge 48.36 percent, while CIMIC Group slipped 0.22 percent, after an initial jump of more than 0.6 percent. Australian Mines shares climbed 36.36 percent, after Reuters reported news of project acquisitions. Earlier in June, UGL had warned delays at one of its largest oil and gas projects would hurt profit, which sent its shares down by one-third in one day, Reuters reported. In South Korea, Samsung Electronic's shares fell 3.28 percent, after the company said it was investigating new reports of heat damage issues on its Galaxy Note 7 replacement devices. US network provider AT&T said on Sunday that it would stop selling and exchanging the device. Meanwhile, on Friday, US September nonfarm payrolls missed expectations, increasing by 156,000, compared with a Reuters poll of an expected 176,000 new jobs. The payrolls report are a closely-watched indicator by the Federal Reserve of the US economic strength. On Friday, the pound sterling fell sharply to USD 1.1819, a fresh 31-year low, in early trade, in what was described as a "flash crash." Cable was trading at USD 1.2437 as of 9:25 am HK/SIN. "The sterling weakness is also presenting a threat for the Fed, as the dollar is becoming stronger and stronger. This makes the Fed increasing the interest rates a little bit tricky," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets, said in a Monday note. Spot Gold was up 0.25 percent at USD 1,259.46 an ounce, after earlier rising more than 1 percent to as high as USD 1,262.60. U.S. crude futures were trading down 1.1 percent at USD 49.26 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent was down 1 percent at USD 51.41.
