Market Talk – August 17, 2023

ASIA:

Meeting China’s annual economic targets is not optional, Premier Li Qiang said, with a strong message calling for increased resources and policy coordination. During a State Council meeting on Wednesday, Li stressed the need to expand domestic demand, boost private enterprise, attract foreign investment and build a modernized industrial system as China seeks to sustain its post-Covid recovery. The world’s second-largest economy confirmed weak economic data for July earlier this week, with a slowing recovery expected to cast doubt on Beijing’s annual targets, including a gross domestic product growth target of “around 5 percent” set earlier this year.

The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:

• NIKKEI 225 decreased 140.82 points or -0.44% to 31,626.00
• Shanghai increased 13.61 points or 0.43% to 3,163.74
• Hang Seng decreased 2.67 points or -0.01% to 18,326.63
• ASX 200 decreased 49.20 points or -0.68% to 7,146.00
• Kospi decreased 5.79 points or -0.23% to 2,519.85
• SENSEX decreased 388.40 points or -0.59% to 65,151.02
• Nifty50 decreased 99.75 points or -0.51% to 19,365.25

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD decreased 0.00044 or -0.07% to 0.64186
• NZDUSD increased 0.00006 or 0.01% to 0.59356
• USDJPY decreased 0.203 or -0.14% to 146.147
• USDCNY decreased 0.0328 or -0.45% to 7.30465

Precious Metals:

• Gold decreased 3.45 USD/t oz. or -0.18% to 1,888.31
• Silver increased 0.294 USD/t. oz or 1.31% to 22.680

Some economic news from last night:

Japan:

Adjusted Trade Balance decreased from -0.54T to -0.56T

Exports (YoY) (Jul) decreased from 1.5% to -0.3%

Trade Balance (Jul) decreased from 43.1B to -78.7B

Australia:

Employment Change (Jul) decreased from 31.6K to -14.6K

Full Employment Change (Jul) decreased from 38.0K to -24.2K

Unemployment Rate (Jul) increased from 3.5% to 3.7%

New Zealand：

PPI Input (QoQ) (Q2) decreased from 0.0% to -0.2%

Some economic news from today:

Japan:

Tertiary Industry Activity Index (MoM) decreased from 1.2% to -0.4%

EUROPE/EMEA:

Inflation in the UK eased to 6.8 per cent in July from 7.9 per cent in the previous month, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The figure was in line with economists’ expectations and may take some pressure off the Bank of England to raise interest rates by more than 0.25 percent at its meeting in September. It is the lowest value since February 2022.

The major Europe stock markets had a negative day today:

• CAC 40 decreased 68.51 points or -0.94% to 7,191.74
• FTSE 100 decreased 46.67 points or -0.63% to 7,310.21
• DAX 30 decreased 112.55 points or -0.71% to 15,676.90

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD decreased 0.00016 or -0.01% to 1.08724
• GBPUSD increased 0.00256 or 0.20% to 1.27526
• USDCHF decreased 0.00035 or -0.04% to 0.87965

Some economic news from Europe today:

Euro Zone:

Trade Balance (Jun) increased from -0.3B to 23.0B

US/AMERICAS:

House Republicans have subpoenaed Citibank over data shared after the January 6 protest. The lawmakers want to know whether or to what extent the bank voluntarily worked with the FBI to collect Americans’ private data. The subpoena is part of the ongoing investigation into the Capitol riot and the role played by financial institutions in the events leading up to it. The subpoena comes after the House Select Committee withdrew a subpoena for fundraising data from the Republican National Committee, citing the progress of the investigation. House Republicans have previously issued subpoenas for White House documents related to the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee to Solyndra and for FTC documents related to the agency’s privacy investigation of Twitter.

US Market Closings:

• Dow declined by 290.91 points or -0.84% to 34,474.83
• S&P 500 declined 33.97 points or -0.77% to 4,370.36
• Nasdaq declined 157.7 points or -1.17% to 13,316.93
• Russell 2000 declined 21.46 points or -1.15% to 1,850.06

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite declined 86.84 points or -0.44% to 19,812.23
• TSX 60 declined 4.83 points or -0.41% to 1,187.16

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa declined 609.22 points or -0.53% to 114,982.3

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a mixed day today:

• Crude Oil increased 0.918 USD/BBL or 1.16% to 80.298
• Brent increased 0.692 USD/BBL or 0.83% to 84.141
• Natural gas increased 0.0398 USD/MMBtu or 1.54% to 2.6318
• Gasoline decreased 0.0152 USD/GAL or -0.53% to 2.8519
• Heating oil increased 0.0791 USD/GAL or 2.62% to 3.1000

The above data was collected around 13:09 EST on Thursday

• Top commodity gainers: Heating Oil (2.62%), Natural Gas (1.54%), Palm Oil (2.00%) and Bitumen (1.64%)
• Top commodity losers: Wheat (-0.99%), Orange Juice (-2.30%), Oat (-1.33%) and Coffee (-1.54%)

The above data was collected around 13:19 EST Thursday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.646% (+1.6bp), US 2’s 4.99% (+0.009%), US 10’s 4.3197% (+6.17bps); US 30’s 4.41% (+0.054%), Bunds 2.699% (+5.6bp), France 3.244% (+5bp), Italy 4.403% (+4.5bp), Turkey 18.43% (+0bp), Greece 4.069% (+10.1bp), Portugal 3.439% (+4.1bp); Spain 3.752% (+4.8bp) and UK Gilts 4.745% (+9.8bp).