ASIA:
China’s Evergrande Group dollar bondholders were still waiting for information about a key interest payment due Thursday, with some holders having given up hope of getting a coupon payment by the deadline, Reuters reported. The property developer was instead expected to provide more information in the coming month, the news agency said. Evergrande was due to pay $83.5 million in interest on a $2 billion offshore bond on Thursday and also has a $47.5 million dollar-bond interest payment next week. Both would default if the company, which has outstanding debt of $305 billion, fails to settle the interest within 30 days of the scheduled payment dates.
The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:
- NIKKEI 225 closed
- Shanghai increased 13.73 points or 0.38% to 3,642.22
- Hang Seng increased 289.44 or 1.19% to 24,510.98
- ASX 200 increased 73.30 points or 1.00% to 7,370.20
- Kospi decreased 12.93 points or -0.41% to 3,127.58
- SENSEX increased 958.03 points or 1.63% to 59,885.36
- Nifty50 increased 276.30 points or 1.57% to 17,822.95
The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
- AUDUSD increased 0.007 or 0.97% to 0.73029
- NZDUSD increased 0.00897 or 1.28% to 0.70783
- USDJPY increased 0.33 or 0.30% to 110.15
- USDCNY decreased 0.01222 or -0.19% to 6.45915
Precious Metals:
- Gold decreased 17.72 USD/t oz. or -1.00% to 1,750.19
- Silver increased 0.03 USD/t. oz or 0.13% to 22.700
Some economic news from last night:
Australia:
Manufacturing PMI increased from 52.0 to 57.3
Services PMI increased from 42.9 to 44.9
Some economic news from today:
Singapore:
CPI (YoY) (Aug) decreased from 2.5% to 2.4%
EUROPE/EMEA:
Severe shortages of workers and supplies have dragged down economic growth in Britain to the weakest levels since pandemic restrictions were eased in March, according to a closely watched business survey. The latest snapshot from IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (Cips) showed that growth in private sector output slowed in August as firms battled with severe shortages while costs rose at the fastest pace since the late 1990s. The IHS Markit/Cips flash purchasing managers’ index dropped from to 54.1 in September from 54.8 in August, on a scale where anything above 50 indicates expansion. City economists had forecast a reading of 54.5.
The major Europe stock markets had a mixed day:
- CAC 40 increased 64.98 points or 0.98% to 6,701.98
- FTSE 100 decreased 5.02 points or -0.07% to 7,078.35
- DAX 30 increased 137.23 points or 0.88% to 15,643.97
The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
- EURUSD increased 0.00526 or 0.45% to 1.17417
- GBPUSD increased 0.01308 or 0.96% to 1.37471
- USDCHF decreased 0.0027 or -0.29% to 0.92345
Some economic news from Europe today:
Norway:
Unemployment Rate (Jul) decreased from 4.8% to 4.2%
Interest Rate Decision increased from 0.00% to 0.25%
France:
French Business Survey (Sep) decreased from 110 to 106
French Manufacturing PMI (Sep) decreased from 57.5 to 55.2
French Markit Composite PMI (Sep) decreased from 55.9 to 55.1
French Services PMI (Sep) decreased from 56.3 to 56.0
Spain:
Spanish GDP (QoQ) (Q2) increased from -0.6% to 1.1%
Spanish GDP (YoY) (Q2) increased from -4.2% to 17.5%
Swiss:
SNB Interest Rate Decision (Q3) remain the same at -0.75%
Germany:
German Composite PMI (Sep) decreased from 60.0 to 55.3
German Manufacturing PMI (Sep) decreased from 62.6 to 58.5
German Services PMI (Sep) decreased from 60.8 to 56.0
UK:
Composite PMI decreased from 54.8 to 54.1
Manufacturing PMI decreased from 60.3 to 56.3
Services PMI decreased from 55.0 to 54.6
BoE MPC vote cut (Sep) remain the same at 0
BoE MPC vote hike (Sep) remain the same at 0
BoE MPC vote unchanged (Sep) increased from 8 to 9
BoE QE Total (Sep) remain the same at 875B
BoE Interest Rate Decision (Sep) remain the same at 0.10%
Euro Zone:
ECB LTRO decreased from 109.8B to 97.6B
Manufacturing PMI (Sep) decreased from 61.4 to 58.7
Markit Composite PMI (Sep) decreased from 59.0 to 56.1
Services PMI (Sep) decreased from 59.0 to 56.3
US/AMERICAS:
Reporters grilled Federal Chairman Jerome Powell yesterday over his knowledge of Federal Reserve presidents purchasing COVID-sensitive assets and Treasuries. Although Powell claimed that he personally froze his municipal securities years ago, he claimed it was a “coincidence” that other members happened to purchase assets over which they had control. “I was not aware of the specifics of what they were doing,” the chairman told reporters. Powell said that central bank members must abide by three main rules: 1) ownership of certain assets are not allowed, 2) they are banned from trading at certain times, and 3) all purchases must be disclosed for public record. “This has been our framework for a long time,” he said. When asked if it was fair for members to personally own Treasuries that the bank is purchasing, he said it was a “reasonable” question and that the central bank but regain the public’s trust.
Volatility is causing investors to become more conservative with their equities, a new CNBC poll of 400 chief investment officers showed. Nearly 76% of those polled said they plan to be “very conservative in the stock market,” for both their selves and clients. Wall Street opened the week with a sell-off Monday, with the S&P 500 seeing its largest decline since May. Still, around half of the respondents believe the index will increase by 5% within the next year, 45% believe it will fall flat, and only 5% believe it will decline. The index is 16% up for the year after eight consecutive months of strong gains. The lingering debt ceiling, massive Federal Reserve spending program, and frequent policy revisions have caused investors to flee from government bonds, with only 2% of those polled saying they would consider investing in US Treasuries. Around 45% said private credit was the safest strategy to generate a high yield, followed by 16% declaring investment-grade corporate debt, 14% stating emerging market debt, and 12% looking to securitized debt.
US Market Closings:
- Dow advanced 506.5 points or 1.48% to 34,764.82
- S&P 500 advanced 53.34 points or 1.21% to 4,448.98
- Nasdaq advanced 155.4 points or 1.04% to 15,052.24
- Russell 2000 advanced 40.48 points or 1.82% to 2,259.04
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite advanced 60.44 points or 0.3% to 20,461.93
- TSX 60 advanced 4.45 points or 0.36% to 1,224.77
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa advanced 1,782.08 points or 1.59% to 114,064.36
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a green day today:
- Crude Oil increased 1.13 USD/BBL or 1.56% to 73.3600
- Brent increased 1.03 USD/BBL or 1.35% to 77.2200
- Natural gas increased 0.174 USD/MMBtu or 3.62% to 4.9790
- Gasoline increased 0.0187 USD/GAL or 0.88% to 2.1426
- Heating oil increased 0.0221 USD/GAL or 1.00% to 2.2337
The above data was collected around 12:42 EST on Thursday
- Top commodity gainers: Oat (4.26%) and Natural Gas (3.62%), Methanol (5.38%) and Rhodium (7.45%)
- Top commodity losers: Palladium (-2.03%), Gold (-1.00%), Cocoa (-1.51%), and Steel (-0.60%)
The above data was collected around 12:42 EST on Thursday
BONDS:
Japan 0.035%(-0.5bp), US 2’s 0.2527%(+0.01%), US 10’s 1.3959%(+9.19bps); US 30’s 1.9139%(+0.10%),Bunds -0.2570% (+6.9bp), France 0.0780% (+7.2bp), Italy 0.7261% (+6.29bp), Turkey 16.83% (+16bp), Greece 0.7770% (+3.60bp), Portugal 0.284% (+6.70bp); Spain 0.385% (+7.04bp) and UK Gilts 0.904% (+10.4bp).
