Germany’s Economic Recovery Slows as Trade Tensions and Rising Costs Weigh on Growth 
Gold Prices Steady as Markets Await Key U.S. Data and Expected Fed Rate Cut 
BOJ Faces Pressure for Clarity, but Neutral Rate Estimates Likely to Stay Vague 
Dollar Weakens Ahead of Expected Federal Reserve Rate Cut 
Japan’s Nikkei Drops as Markets Await Key U.S. Inflation Data 
Asian Markets Stabilize as Wall Street Rebounds and Rate Concerns Ease 
The U.S. Treasuries gained during Wednesday’s afternoon session amid a relatively quiet day ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) monetary policy meeting minutes for the month of October, scheduled to be released today by 19:00GMT.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield plunged 4 basis points to 1.747 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yield also slumped 4 basis points to 2.214 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded nearly 1-1/2 basis points down at 1.584 percent by 12:15GMT.
In the US, the main release today will be the minutes from the Fed’s October policy meeting, which seem likely to reiterate the message from Powell’s post-meeting press conference and testimony to Congress last week, that monetary policy is on hold for now, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.
With ongoing unease about the lack of progress on US-China trade issues compounded by the US Senate passing a bill supportive of Hong Kong’s protestors, the mood in the main Asian-Pacific markets was downbeat today with declines in all major equity indices, the report added.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures remained tad down at 3,111.38 by 12:20GMT.
