ASIA:
China’s central bank on Friday said that non-bank payment firms must report plans for overseas initial public offerings and other major events. This is the latest move in a widespread regulatory squeeze on the country’s tech firms. Non-bank payment firms should report both domestic and overseas listing plans, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement. The requirement applies to payment firms with a variable interest entity (VIE) structure, which has been widely adopted by internet companies and allows them to bypass the lengthy domestic listing process and raise funds overseas. Payment firms should also explain the “detailed arrangement” of their VIE structures if seeking an overseas listing, it said.
The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:
- NIKKEI 225 closed
- Shanghai decreased 24.34 points or -0.68% to 3,550.40
- Hang Seng decreased 401.86 or -1.45% to 27,321.98
- ASX 200 increased 8.00 points or 0.11% to 7,394.40
- Kospi increased 4.21 points or 0.13% to 3,254.42
- SENSEX increased 138.59 points or 0.26% to 52,975.80
- Nifty50 increased 32.00 points or 0.20% to 15,856.05
The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
- AUDUSD decreased 0.00157 or -0.21% to 0.73689
- NZDUSD decreased 0.00026 or -0.04% to 0.69788
- USDJPY increased 0.42 or 0.38% to 110.52
- USDCNY increased 0.00215 or 0.03% to 6.47579
Precious Metals:
- Gold decreased 4.35 USD/t oz. or -0.24% to 1,802.34
- Silver decreased 0.25 USD/t. oz or -1.00% to 25.201
Some economic news from last night:
Australia:
Manufacturing PMI decreased from 58.6 to 56.8
Services PMI decreased from 56.8 to 44.2
Singapore:
URA Property Index (QoQ) (Q2) decreased from 3.30% to 0.8%
Some economic news from today:
Singapore:
CPI (YoY) (Jun) remain the same at 2.4%
India:
FX Reserves, USD increased from 611.90B to 612.73B
Indonesia:
M2 Money Supply (YoY) (Jun) increased from 8.10% to 11.40%
EUROPE/EMEA:
The European Central Bank on Thursday held monetary policy steady, but tweaked its guidance to reflect its recently-hiked inflation target. The ECB has committed to purchasing 1.85 trillion euros ($2.2 trillion) of bonds until March 2022 as part of its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program, and policymakers voted to keep this stimulus on the table for the time being. Interest rates were also left unchanged, with the rate on the main deposit facility remaining at -0.5%, the benchmark refinancing rate at 0% and the marginal lending facility at 0.25%. The ECB said in a statement that it expects interest rates to remain “at their present or lower levels until it sees inflation reaching two per cent well ahead of the end of its projection horizon and durably for the rest of the projection horizon, and it judges that realized progress in underlying inflation is sufficiently advanced to be consistent with inflation stabilizing at two per cent over the medium term.”
The major Europe stock markets had a green day:
- CAC 40 increased 87.23 points or 1.35% to 6,568.82
- FTSE 100 increased 59.28 points or 0.85% to 7,027.58
- DAX 30 increased 154.75 points or 1.00% to 15,669.29
The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
- EURUSD decreased 0.00056 or -0.05% to 1.17693
- GBPUSD decreased 0.0022 or -0.16% to 1.37535
- USDCHF increased 0.00127 or 0.14% to 0.92021
Some economic news from Europe today:
Germany:
German Composite PMI (Jul) increased from 60.1 to 62.5
German Manufacturing PMI (Jul) increased from 65.1 to 65.6
German Services PMI (Jul) increased from 57.5 to 62.2
France:
French Manufacturing PMI (Jul) decreased from 59.0 to 58.1
French Markit Composite PMI (Jul) decreased from 57.4 to 56.8
French Services PMI (Jul) decreased from 57.8 to 57.0
UK:
Composite PMI decreased from 62.2 to 57.7
Manufacturing PMI decreased from 63.9 to 60.4
Services PMI decreased from 62.4 to 57.8
GfK Consumer Confidence (Jul) increased from -9 to -7
Core Retail Sales (MoM) (Jun) increased from -2.0% to 0.3%
Core Retail Sales (YoY) (Jun) decreased from 21.7% to 7.4%
Retail Sales (MoM) (Jun) increased from -1.3% to 0.5%
Retail Sales (YoY) (Jun) decreased from 24.6% to 9.7%
Euro Zone:
Manufacturing PMI (Jul) decreased from 63.4 to 62.6
Markit Composite PMI (Jul) increased from 59.5 to 60.6
Services PMI (Jul) increased from 58.3 to 60.4
US/AMERICAS:
A recent report by CNN indicates that the global semiconductor shortage could last until mid-2023. General Motors (GM) announced that they will cease production of their full-size pickup trucks as they are unable to obtain the necessary chips for manufacturing. While a representative for GM said they “expect it to be a near-term issue,” the shortage is affecting companies worldwide. Intel announced plans to invest $20 billion to manufacture the much-needed semiconductors. Furthermore, the company hopes to become the main supplier for large companies like Apple.
Retail sales spiked 4.4% in Canada this June as restrictions eased, according to Statistics Canada. The rise shows a drastic increase from May when sales declined 2.1%, although analysts expected a 3% decline. Based on mobile-phone data, retail store traffic rose 44% in June compared to 2019, as reported by Bloomberg. Analysts are now hopeful that loosened restrictions will help the Canadian economy recover.
Consumer prices in Mexico rose 5.7% YoY this June, raising inflation concerns, according to the National Statistics Institute. The news comes a month after Mexico’s central bank, Banxico, raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.25%. “Although the shocks that have affected inflation are expected to be transitory, due to their diversity, magnitude and the extended horizon over which they have affected inflation, they may represent a risk to the price formation process,” the central bank noted in a statement. Although inflation is well above the Banxico’s 3% target, the central bank believes that levels will decline in the near-term. However, future monetary policy will depend on “the evolution of factors affecting inflation, their expected trajectories over the projection horizon and expectations.”
US Market Closings:
- Dow advanced 238.2 points or 0.68% to 35,061.55
- S&P 500 advanced 44.31 points or 1.01% to 4,411.79
- Nasdaq advanced 152.39 points or 1.04% to 14,836.99
- Russell 2000 advanced 10.17 points or 0.46% to 2,209.65
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite advanced 90.91 points or 0.45% to 20,188.43
- TSX 60 advanced 6.16 points or 0.51% to 1,214.11
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa declined 1,093.88 points or -0.87% to 125,052.78
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a green day today:
- Crude Oil increased 0.33 USD/BBL or 0.46% to 72.0300
- Brent increased 0.26 USD/BBL or 0.35% to 74.0500
- Natural gas increased 0.052 USD/MMBtu or 1.30% to 4.0550
- Gasoline increased 0.0153 USD/GAL or 0.67 % to 2.2885
- Heating oil increased 0.0009 USD/GAL or 0.04% to 2.1335
The above data was collected around 14:45 EST on Friday
- Top commodity gainers: Palm Oil (3.25%), Orange Juice (2.15%), Sugar (2.72%) and Copper (2.24%)
- Top commodity losers: Methanol (-2.72%), Corn (-3.23%), Platinum (-3.10%), and Lumber (-3.04%)
The above data was collected around 14:50 EST on Friday.
BONDS:
Japan 0.01%(+1bp), US 2’s 0.2021%(+0.00%), US 10’s 1.2880%(+1.14bps); US 30’s 1.9255%(+0.01%), Bunds -0.4170% (+0.4bp), France -0.0840% (-0.5bp), Italy 0.6293% (-2bp), Turkey 16.74% (-7bp), Greece 0.6580% (-1bp), Portugal 0.206% (-0bp); Spain 0.271% (+5bp) and UK Gilts 0.5890% (+2bp).
