Asian markets may see some green today

Asian stocks might finally see some green today on reasonable offshore leads. US markets were mildly positive with the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.3% higher and the S&P500 up by 0.1%.

Market sentiment improved with comments from Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti who reiterated most leaders of the European Union summit backed joint European bonds. This might pave the way for a better integrated method of addressing the current debt crisis.

The Euro remains vulnerable, despite the reassurances, last trading at 125.30. City Index Chief Global Strategist Ashraf Laidi thinks the currency might continue to fall further towards the 120 level against the US dollar before bottoming. That view will no doubt be shaped by the politics around the upcoming Greek election.

Asian markets will be watching very closely.

In regional economic news, Japan reported national core April CPI today of 0.2% compared to the same period last year. The data marks the third straight month of increases but the rate of increase remains below the central bank’s 1% inflation target range.

Market consensus estimates were for a 0.1% rise in April. The numbers exclude seasonal factors but include oil products.

In commodities, the price of platinum continues to trade at a discount to gold, last trading at US$1424/oz compared to gold at US$1555/oz.

We regularly monitor the gold to silver ratio, which at the moment stands at around 55x – in line with the 20 year historical mean range – but the gold/platinum ratio is starting to look more interesting, still unusually above 1x.