The opening conversation in Asia was that of the impressive bounce the US markets had attained by close of business. Many Asian traders had left their desks Thursday with the DOW futures down over 130 points with fears spreading that we could see a repeat of the October ‘87 crash. As a result of the lack of follow-through, Asia opened on a strong note and continued throughout the day with indices closing higher across the board. The Nikkei closed higher for its 14th straight day. The Yen lost ground to the strong US Dollar taking it to mid 113’s ahead of Sunday’s election and what maybe not so certain a Shinzo Abe victory. The Hang Seng recouped much of Thursday’s losses closing up over 1.1% whilst the mainland Shanghai index added +0.3%.

Given so much uncertainty from Spain to BREXIT, many decided to just close their eyes and follow the US sentiment. We will know next week whether this was the correct course of action or not when we have hear more from Spain, BREXIT, Japan, China, ECB and closer to news of the next FED Chairmanship. The GBP found a boost in the shape of better than expected Budget Deficit data. Last month figures released showed a marked improvement, beating an estimate of 6.5bn releasing at 5.9bn GBP. Sterling also improved after talk that the Theresa May dismissed rumors that they had increased the ‘divorce’ payment. When markets reopen on Monday we will also know more on the Catalonian situation having then heard the result of Spain’s’ PM Mariano Rajoy special cabinet meeting (Saturday) on the possible suspension of Catalonia’s autonomy. All core (DAX, CAC, FTSE) markets ended marginally positive. Although we have lots that could move markets, the core focus will probably be the ECB and especially the searching Q+A session prepared for Mario Draghi. Certainly, worth keeping an eye on peripheral spreads from Monday onward, any clues to Thursday’s fun and games will be signaled early with curve and spread moves.