ASIA:
Ant Group executives are no longer part of Alibaba Partnership, a body that can nominate the majority of the e-commerce giant’s board, Alibaba’s annual report released on Tuesday showed. as both companies parted ways after China’s sweeping regulatory crackdown. The terms now allow only Alibaba employees to be part of the partnership. Seven Ant Group executives, including Chief Executive Eric Jing, have stepped down from Alibaba Partnership. Others include its chief technology officer and chief people officer. Two of Alibaba’s retired executives also left the partnership, leaving the total number of Alibaba Partners at 29 from 38 in 2021.
Bank of Japan policymakers saw wage hikes as a major factor to sustainably achieve their 2% inflation target, highlighting the bank’s resolve to keep interest rates ultra-low despite growing signs of price pressure, the central bank’s June meeting minutes showed. Some members of the 9-member board saw the rise in prices has adversely affected long-help public perceptions that inflation and wages would not rise much in the future. But the members agreed the economy needed massive monetary support to weather the hit from rising commodity prices and supply disruptions caused by China’s COVID-19 lockdowns. Japan’s core consumer prices rose 2.2% in June from a year earlier, exceeding the BOJ’s target, due mostly to surging fuel and commodity costs blamed on the war in Ukraine. Real wages, adjusted with inflation, which is a key matrices of consumer’s purchasing power, fell 1.8% from a year earlier, extending a decline to post the biggest year-on-year drop in nearly two years.
The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:
- NIKKEI 225 decreased 44.04 points or -0.16% to 27,655.21
- Shanghai increased 27.05 points or 0.83% to 3,277.44
- Hang Seng increased 342.94 points or 1.67% to 20,905.88
- ASX 200 increased 17.40 points or 0.26% to 6,807.30
- Kospi increased 9.27 points or 0.39% to 2,412.96
- SENSEX decreased 497.73 points or -0.89% to 55,268.49
- Nifty50 decreased 147.15 points or -0.88% to 16,483.85
The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
- AUDUSD decreased 0.00087 or -0.13% to 0.69418
- NZDUSD decreased 0.00285 or -0.45% to 0.62355
- USDJPY increased 0.256 or 0.19% to 136.612
- USDCNY increased 0.0153 or 0.23% to 6.76630
Precious Metals:
l Gold increased 0.12 USD/t oz. or 0.01% to 1,720.67
l Silver increased 0.208 USD/t. oz or 1.13% to 18.604
Some economic news from last night:
Japan:
Corporate Services Price Index (CSPI) (YoY) increased from 1.9% to 2.0%
South Korea:
GDP (QoQ) (Q2) increased from 0.6% to 0.7%
GDP (YoY) (Q2) decreased from 3.0% to 2.9%
Some economic news from today:
Japan:
BoJ Core CPI (YoY) increased from 1.5% to 1.6%
Singapore:
Industrial Production (MoM) (Jun) decreased from 9.2% to -8.5%
Industrial Production (YoY) (Jun) decreased from 10.4% to 2.2%
EUROPE/EMEA:
Britain has sanctioned Kremlin-imposed officials in the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces in eastern Ukraine as well as 29 regional governors across Russia in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. The 42 new designations added to Britain’s Russia sanctions also included Russia’s minister and deputy minister of justice, and two nephews of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who was himself sanctioned by Britain in March. Vitaly Khotsenko and Vladislav Kuznetsov, the Russian-imposed Prime Minister and First Deputy Chairman of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, are now subject to travel bans and asset freezes, Britain’s foreign office said.
The UAE and France will work in partnership to maximize the social and economic benefits of climate action to help drive a green economy and deliver the “new industries, skills and jobs of the future”. The Office of the UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change and the French Government signed an agreement to further strengthen their co-operation on pressing environmental challenges, as part of President Sheikh Mohamed’s state visit to Paris. The UAE in 2016 became the first Middle East nation to sign the Paris Agreement, which calls for global warming to be limited to well below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. The UAE-France agreement was signed in the French capital by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Agnes Pannier-Runacher, French Minister of Energy Transition.
The major Europe stock markets had a negative day:
- CAC 40 decreased 26.10 points or -0.42% to 6,211.45
- FTSE 100 decreased 0.02 points or 0.00% to 7,306.28
- DAX 30 decreased 113.39 points or -0.86% to 13,096.93
The major Europe currency markets had a negative day today:
- EURUSD decreased 0.00922 or -0.90% to 1.01268
- GBPUSD decreased 0.00171 or -0.14% to 1.20320
- USDCHF decreased 0.0019 or -0.20% to 0.96250
Some economic news from Europe today:
UK:
CBI Distributive Trades Survey (Jul) increased from -5 to -4
Spain:
Spanish PPI (YoY) decreased from 43.6% to 43.2%
US/AMERICAS:
US real estate is beginning to cool, but not by much. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index reported that home prices rose 19.7% in May YoY. May was the second consecutive month of declining home sales amid inflation fears and rising mortgage rates, but housing prices are still at a high. The 10-city composite saw a 19% YoY increase, slightly down from 19.6% in April, while the 20-city composite rose 20.5% YoY, compared to 21.2% from the month prior.
The US Senate has approved a bill in a 64-32 vote to ramp up semiconductor chip production in America. CHIPS-plus, as the package is known, will provide domestic producers with $52 billion to create the highly in-demand product and will also come with tax credits. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claimed America’s reliance on China’s semiconductor products was a threat to overall security. “The longer we wait, the more dangerous the disruption,” he stated.
US Market Closings:
- Dow declined 228.5 points or -0.71% to 31,761.54
- S&P 500 declined 45.79 points or -1.15% to 3,921.05
- Nasdaq declined 220.09 points or -1.87% to 11,562.58
- Russell 2000 declined 12.53 points or -0.69% to 1,805.25
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite declined 131.8 points or -0.69% to 18,972.68
- TSX 60 declined 7.75 points or -0.67% to 1,148.6
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa declined 498.16 points or -0.5% to 99,771.69
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a mixed day today:
- Crude Oil decreased 0.79 USD/BBL or -0.82% to 96.078
- Brent decreased 0.25 USD/BBL or -0.24% to 105.071
- Natural gas increased 0.247 USD/MMBtu or 2.83% to 8.9580
- Gasoline decreased 0.059 USD/GAL or -1.74% to 3.3173
- Heating oil increased 0.091 USD/GAL or 2.59% to 3.6029
The above data was collected around 13:31 EST on Tuesday
- Top commodity gainers: Soybeans (3.84%), Wheat(3.73%), Palm Oil (3.87%) and Orange Juice (4.28%)
- Top commodity losers: Rhodium (-2.60%), Crude Oil (-0.82%), Lumber (-5.63%) and Gasoline (-1.74%)
The above data was collected around 13:37 EST on Tuesday.
BONDS:
Japan 0.204%(+0.3bp), US 2’s 3.05% (+0.014%), US 10’s 2.7904% (-2.96bps); US 30’s 3.01% (-0.040%), Bunds 0.9370% (-9.3bp), France 1.5320% (-8bp), Italy 3.349% (-3.5bp), Turkey 16.73% (+2bp), Greece 2.993% (-10.5bp), Portugal 2.084% (-7.5bp); Spain 2.167% (-6.5bp) and UK Gilts 1.9230% (-1.5bp).
