Market Talk – September 26, 2023

ASIA:

The US and China have established two working groups to discuss economic and financial matters, as announced on September 22. This decision was made by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng during their meeting in Beijing in July. The economic group will involve collaboration between the US Treasury department and China’s finance ministry, while the financial group will involve cooperation with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC). These working groups aim to create consistent and open channels for dialogue on these important issues.

The major Asian stock markets had a negative day today:

• NIKKEI 225 decreased 363.57 points or -1.11% to 32,315.05
• Shanghai decreased 13.33 points or -0.43% to 3,102.27
• Hang Seng decreased 262.39 points or -1.48% to 17,466.90
• ASX 200 decreased 38.30 points or -0.54% to 7,038.20
• Kospi decreased 32.79 points or -1.31% to 2,462.97
• SENSEX decreased 78.22 points or -0.12% to 65,945.47
• Nifty50 decreased 9.85 points or -0.05% to 19,664.70

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD decreased 0.00282 or -0.44% to 0.63948
• NZDUSD decreased 0.00198 or -0.33% to 0.59452
• USDJPY increased 0.144 or 0.10% to 149.024
• USDCNY decreased 0.00506 or -0.07% to 7.31084

The above data was collected around 16.09 EST.

Precious Metals:

• Gold decreased 15.05 USD/t oz. or -0.79% to 1,900.61
• Silver decreased 0.255 USD/t. oz or -1.10% to 22.856

The above data was collected around 16:12 EST.

No economic news from last night:

Some economic news from today:

Japan:

BoJ Core CPI (YoY) remain the same at 3.3%

EUROPE/EMEA:

Eurozone government bond yields held near multi-year highs on Tuesday as the prevailing narrative that global central banks would keep interest rates “higher for longer” continued to drive price action. Germany’s 10-year government bond yield, the euro area’s benchmark, was last little changed on the day at 2.789 percent, having briefly hit a 12-year high of 2.813 percent in early trade. Bonds yields move inversely with prices. The policy-sensitive two-year yield was also little changed at 3.219 percent. ECB President Christine Lagarde on Monday said that interest rates held at current levels will make a substantial contribution towards getting inflation down towards their target of 2 percent over the medium term. Pricing in derivative markets shows a less than 20 percent chance of another rate hike from the ECB, but a rate cut is not priced in until July next year.

The major Europe stock markets had a mixed day today:

• CAC 40 decreased 49.86 points or -0.70% to 7,074.02
• FTSE 100 increased 1.73 points or 0.02% to 7,625.72
• DAX 30 decreased 149.62 points or -0.97% to 15,255.87

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD decreased 0.00166 or -0.16% to 1.05734
• GBPUSD decreased 0.0053 or -0.43% to 1.21580
• USDCHF increased 0.00356 or 0.39% to 0.91546

The above data was collected around 16:15 EST.

US/AMERICAS:

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands over its relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The settlement resolves allegations that the bank facilitated Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and profited from it. The bank has apologized for its association with Epstein and said it “deeply regrets” it. The settlement also requires JPMorgan to implement and maintain anti-trafficking measures to prevent human trafficking in the future. The agreement allows the bank to avoid a trial on the Virgin Islands’ allegations, which was due to start on October 23.

US Market Closings:

• Dow declined 388 points or -1.14% to 33,618.88
• S&P 500 declined 63.91 points or -1.47% to 4,273.53
• Nasdaq declined 207.71 points or -1.57% to 13,063.61
• Russell 2000 declined 22.63 points or -1.27% to 1,761.61

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite declined 244.46 points or -1.23% to 19,556.15
• TSX 60 declined 13.62 points or -1.15% to 1,173.7

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa declined 1,731.18 points or 1.49% to 114,193.43

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a mixed day today:

• Crude Oil increased 0.936 USD/BBL or 1.04% to 90.616
• Brent increased 0.806 USD/BBL or 0.86% to 94.096
• Natural gas increased 0.0037 USD/MMBtu or 0.14% to 2.6427
• Gasoline increased 0.0275 USD/GAL or 1.08% to 2.5714
• Heating oil decreased 0.021 USD/GAL or -0.64% to 3.2412

The above data was collected around 16:17 EST.

• Top commodity gainers: Orange Juice (2.95%), Coffee (1.38%), Cotton (2.04%) and Rice (2.24%)
• Top commodity losers: Methanol (-1.56%), HRC Steel (-1.27%), Bitumen (-1.53%) and Cheese (-1.89%)

The above data was collected around 16:22 EST.

BONDS:

Japan 0.745% (+1.5bp), US 2’s 5.13% (+0.001%), US 10’s 4.5499% (+0.79bps); US 30’s 4.68% (+0.025%), Bunds 2.813% (+2.4bp), France 3.36% (+2bp), Italy 4.775% (+12.3bp), Turkey 25.42% (+71bp), Greece 4.309% (+3.5bp), Portugal 3.563% (+1.9bp); Spain 3.910% (+4.9bp) and UK Gilts 4.330% (+0.2bp)

The above data was collected around 16:25 EST.