Market Talk – August 4, 2023

ASIA:

Singapore’s economy grew by 0.7% year-on-year and 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, avoiding a technical recession. This growth exceeded the expectations of economists, who had predicted a 0.6% year-on-year and 0.3% quarter-on-quarter growth. In the previous quarter, the economy had contracted by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter but saw marginal growth of 0.4% year-on-year. Despite the positive data, the Monetary Authority of Singapore had warned of an uncertain growth outlook. Following the release of the GDP data, the Singapore dollar slightly strengthened against the U.S. dollar and traded at $1.321.

The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:

• NIKKEI 225 increased 33.47 points or 0.10% to 32,192.75
• Shanghai increased 7.62 points or 0.23% to 3,288.08
• Hang Seng increased 118.59 points or 0.61% to 19,539.46
• ASX 200 increased 13.60 points or 0.19% to 7,325.30
• Kospi decreased 2.59 points or -0.10% to 2,602.80
• SENSEX increased 480.57 points or 0.74% to 65,721.25
• Nifty50 increased 135.35 points or 0.70% to 19,517.00

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD increased 0.00539 or 0.82% to 0.66059
• NZDUSD increased 0.00507 or 0.83% to 0.61277
• USDJPY decreased 0.702 or -0.49% to 141.838
• USDCNY decreased 0.0043 or -0.06% to 7.17700

Precious Metals:

• Gold increased 8.29 USD/t oz. or 0.43% to 1,942.03
• Silver increased 0.098 USD/t. oz or 0.41% to 23.653

No economic news from last night:

Some economic news from today:

India:

FX Reserves, USD decreased from 607.04B to 603.87B

EUROPE/EMEA:

The Bank of England has raised its key interest rate to a 15-year high of 5.25 percent to address soaring inflation rates. The bank intends to keep the rate at this level for a while to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. This is the 14th consecutive interest rate hike by the central bank. The policymakers will closely monitor inflationary pressures. The decision was made in response to British annual inflation, which is currently close to eight percent, significantly higher than in the eurozone and the U.S. There were concerns that the increase would be more significant, but the rate hike was only a quarter-point due to a drop in inflation to 7.9 percent, although the bank aims to bring it down further to around two percent.

The major Europe stock markets had a green day today:

• CAC 40 increased 54.54 points or 0.75% to 7,315.07
• FTSE 100 increased 35.21 points or 0.47% to 7,564.37
• DAX 30 increased 58.48 points or 0.37% to 15,951.86

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD increased 0.00945 or 0.86% to 1.10385
• GBPUSD increased 0.00683 or 0.54% to 1.27813
• USDCHF decreased 0.00327 or -0.37% to 0.87083

Some economic news from Europe today:

Germany:

German Factory Orders (MoM) (Jun) increased from 6.2% to 7.0%

UK:

S&P Global / CIPS UK Construction PMI (Jul) increased from 48.9 to 51.7

US/AMERICAS:

The US job market expanded by 187,000 in July, with the health industry leading the way after adding 87,100 positions. Both construction and financial services added 19,000 new positions, with wholesale incorporating an additional 17,900 jobs. Leisure and hospitality added 17,000 positions, government grew by 15,000, and retail added 8,500 jobs. Information services took a notable hit after declining by 12,000 jobs, as did transportation and warehousing (-8,400), and business services (8,000).

US Market Closings:

• Dow declined 148.69 points or -0.42% to 35,067.2
• S&P 500 declined 23.51 points or -0.52% to 4,478.38
• Nasdaq declined 50.48 points or -0.36% to 13,909.24
• Russell 2000 declined 3.94 points or -0.2% to 1,957.46

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite advanced 115.3 points or 0.57% to 20,236.04
• TSX 60 advanced 6.95 points or 0.58% to 1,211.22

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa declined 1,078.09 points or -0.89% to 119,507.68

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a green day today:

• Crude Oil increased 1.504 USD/BBL or 1.84% to 83.054
• Brent increased 1.422 USD/BBL or 1.67% to 86.562
• Natural gas increased 0.0162 USD/MMBtu or 0.63% to 2.5812
• Gasoline increased 0.0301 USD/GAL or 1.09% to 2.7948
• Heating oil increased 0.0118 USD/GAL or 0.38% to 3.0867

The above data was collected around 12:58 EST on Friday

• Top commodity gainers: Crude Oil (1.84%), Canola (2.04%), Cheese (1.92%) and Rapeseed (3.59%)
• Top commodity losers: HRC Steel (-2.63%), Sugar (-1.37%), Coffee (-1.73%) and Copper (-0.80%)

The above data was collected around 13:06 EST Friday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.647% (-0.5bp), US 2’s 4.81% (-0.082%), US 10’s 4.0741% (-11.49bps); US 30’s 4.22% (-0.081%), Bunds 2.533% (-2.1bp), France 3.093% (-2.6bp), Italy 4.21% (-4.3bp), Turkey 17.73% (-22bp), Greece 3.874% (-1.8bp), Portugal 3.295% (-2.5bp); Spain 3.59% (-3.5bp) and UK Gilts 4.381% (-9bp).