Morning Bid: Yen roars back as US consumer engine sputters

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Tom Westbrook

Earnings season and data are driving markets on Wednesday, and a rebound in the yen is gathering steam.

TotalEnergies, Siemens Energy, Deutsche Boerse, Heineken, Schindler and EssilorLuxottica are among the companies reporting in Europe.

Delayed U.S. jobs data is also due on the heels of unexpectedly soft retail sales that have raised doubts about the health of consumers and the world’s biggest economy.

Decidedly weaker consumers could knock the wind out of recent gains for stocks like Walmart that have surged in a rotation out of AI or AI-vulnerable companies.

January’s employment report is expected to show payrolls rose by 70,000, up from 50,000 in December, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.4%.

More importantly, perhaps, revisions for the year through last March could show the economy created hundreds of thousands fewer jobs than first thought.

Treasuries had rallied and U.S. rate cut expectations were raised a little on Tuesday, after core retail sales figures came in just 0.1% higher for December, and October and November numbers were revised downward.

In Asia, shares in chipmaker TSMC rose through Taiwan’s final trading day before the Lunar New Year break to carry the bourse to a record high and bring MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan index 1.3% higher. [MKTS/GLOB]

Shares in Commonwealth Bank of Australia surged 7.8% after it reported market share gains and issued a bigger-than-expected dividend. Biotech giant CSL’s share price dived to an eight-year low after it reported an 81% profit drop a day after it announced CEO Paul McKenzie’s exit.

In foreign exchange markets, the yen extended a surge and is now up more than 2.5% since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide victory at Sunday’s election, suggesting some traders think she can turn around the currency’s fortunes.

Key developments that could influence markets on Wednesday:

– U.S. payrolls data

– Earnings at Schindler, Heineken, TotalEnergies, Siemens Energy, Deutsche Boerse and EssilorLuxottica

(Editing by Jamie Freed)