Market Talk – August 31, 2023

ASIA:

The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:

• NIKKEI 225 increased 285.88 points or 0.88% to 32,619.34
• Shanghai decreased 17.26 points or -0.55% to 3,119.88
• Hang Seng decreased 100.80 points or -0.55% to 18,382.06
• ASX 200 increased 7.60 points or 0.10% to 7,305.30
• Kospi decreased 4.95 points or -0.19% to 2,556.27
• SENSEX decreased 255.84 points or -0.39% to 64,831.41
• Nifty50 decreased 93.65 points or -0.48% to 19,253.80

The major Asian currency markets had a negative day today:

• AUDUSD decreased 0.00063 or -0.10% to 0.64697
• NZDUSD decreased 0.00054 or -0.09% to 0.59496
• USDJPY decreased 0.765 or -0.52% to 145.475
• USDCNY decreased 0.01852 or -0.25% to 7.28081

Precious Metals:

• Gold decreased 0.14 USD/t oz. or -0.01% to 1,942.10
• Silver decreased 0.192 USD/t. oz or -0.78% to 24.458

Some economic news from last night:

China:

Chinese Composite PMI (Aug) increased from 51.1 to 51.3

Manufacturing PMI (Aug) increased from 49.3 to 49.7

Non-Manufacturing PMI (Aug) decreased from 51.5 to 51.0

Japan:

Industrial Production (MoM) (Jul) decreased from 2.4% to -2.0%

Australia：

Private New Capital Expenditure (QoQ) (Q2) decreased from 3.7% to 2.8%

Some economic news from today:

India:

GDP Quarterly (YoY) (Q1) increased from 6.1% to 7.8%

EUROPE/EMEA:

The major Europe stock markets had a mixed day today:

• CAC 40 decreased 47.70 points or -0.65% to 7,316.70
• FTSE 100 decreased 34.54 points or -0.46% to 7,439.13
• DAX 30 increased 55.15 points or 0.35% to 15,947.08

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD decreased 0.00848 or -0.78% to 1.08392
• GBPUSD decreased 0.00601 or -0.47% to 1.26579
• USDCHF increased 0.00496 or 0.56% to 0.88286

Some economic news from Europe today:

Germany:

German Retail Sales (MoM) (Jul) remain the same at -0.8%

German Unemployment Change (Aug) increased from 1K to 18K

German Unemployment Rate (Aug) increased from 5.6% to 5.7%

France:

French Consumer Spending (MoM) (Jul) decreased from 0.9% to 0.3%

French CPI (MoM) (Aug) increased from 0.1% to 1.0%

French GDP (YoY) remain the same at 0.9%

French GDP (QoQ) (Q2) increased from 0.1% to 0.5%

French HICP (MoM)  increased from 0.0% to 1.1%

Euro Zone:

Core CPI (YoY) decreased from 5.5% to 5.3%

CPI (YoY) (Aug) remain the same at 5.3%

CPI (MoM) increased from -0.1% to 0.6%

Unemployment Rate (Jul) remain the same at 6.4%

US/AMERICAS:

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, accelerated to 3.3% in July, indicating that inflationary pressures are still present in the US economy. The core prices, which exclude the more volatile measurements of food and energy, rose 0.2% from the previous month and 4.2% from the previous year. The Fed is targeting the PCE headline figure as it tries to bring consumer prices back to 2%, but Chair Jerome Powell previously told reporters that core data is a better indicator of inflation. The Fed has raised interest rates several times this year to combat inflation, but the torrid pace of inflation has persisted, creating financial pressure on millions of US households. The Fed is considering more interest rate hikes to slow spending and cool off the job market. However, Fed efforts to cool consumer demand are already starting to slow the economy.

US Market Closings:

• Dow declined 168.33 points or -0.48% to 34,721.91
• S&P 500 declined 7.22 points or -0.16% to 4,507.65
• Nasdaq advanced 15.66 points or 0.11% to 14,034.97
• Russell 2000 declined 3.54 points or -0.19% to 1,899.68

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite declined 37.7 points or -0.19% to 20,292.62
• TSX 60 declined 1.94 points or -0.16% to 1,216.07

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa declined 1,793.29 points or -1.53% to 115,741.81

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a mixed day today:

• Crude Oil increased 1.102 USD/BBL or 1.35% to 82.732
• Brent increased 0.446 USD/BBL or 0.52% to 85.686
• Natural gas decreased 0.0079 USD/MMBtu or -0.28% to 2.7881
• Gasoline decreased 0.0236 USD/GAL or -0.92% to 2.5435
• Heating oil increased 0.0014 USD/GAL or 0.05% to 3.0672

The above data was collected around 12:53 EST on Thursday

• Top commodity gainers: Crude Oil (1.35%), Methanol (1.07%), Steel (1.00%) and Cocoa (1.59%)
• Top commodity losers: Sugar (-1.18%), Rubber (-1.24%), Lean Hogs (-1.46%) and Gasoline (-0.92%)

The above data was collected around 12:59 EST Thursday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.640% (-1.6bp), US 2’s 4.87% (-0.015%), US 10’s 4.0828% (-3.52bps); US 30’s 4.19% (-0.040%), Bunds 2.461% (-7.5bp), France 2.981% (-7.9bp), Italy 4.131% (-6.3bp), Turkey 18.45% (+0bp), Greece 3.784% (-7.7bp), Portugal 3.209% (-3.7bp); Spain 3.476% (-8bp) and UK Gilts 4.362% (-6.3bp)