ASIA:
China’s exports unexpectedly grew at a faster pace in August due to solid global demand, helping to take some of the pressure off the world’s second-biggest economy as it is facing challenges from several fronts. Shipments from the world’s biggest exporter in August rose 25.6% year-on-year, picking up speed from a 19.3% gain in July, customs data showed on Tuesday, pointing to some resilience in China’s industrial sector. Exports from neighboring countries also showed encouraging growth last month, with South Korean shipments accelerating on strong overseas demand.
India’s gold imports in August nearly doubled from a year earlier to the highest in five months on strong demand, and as weaker prices prompted jewelers to ramp up purchases for the festive season, a government source said. Higher imports by the world’s second-biggest bullion consumer could support benchmark gold prices, which have corrected nearly 12% from an all-time high of $2,072 in August 2020. The surge in imports could increase India’s trade deficit and pressure the rupee. India imported 121 tonnes of gold in August, compared to 63 tonnes a year earlier, and in value terms, August imports surged to $6.7 billion from $3.7 billion a year ago, Reuters reported.
The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:
- NIKKEI 225 increased 256.25 points or 0.86% to 29,916.14
- Shanghai increased 54.73 points or 1.51% to 3,676.59
- Hang Seng increased 190.00 or 0.73% to 26,353.63
- ASX 200 increased 1.80 points or 0.02% to 7,530.30
- Kospi decreased 15.91 points or -0.50% to 3,187.42
- SENSEX decreased 17.43 points or -0.03% to 58,279.48
- Nifty50 decreased 15.70 points or -0.09% to 17,362.10
The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:
- AUDUSD decreased 0.00475 or -0.64% to 0.73909
- NZDUSD decreased 0.00382 or -0.54% to 0.70989
- USDJPY increased 0.41 or 0.38% to 110.24
- USDCNY increased 0.01049 or 0.16% to 6.46014
Precious Metals:
- Gold decreased 26.48 USD/t oz. or -1.45% to 1,796.62
- Silver decreased 0.35 USD/t. oz or -1.41% to 24.322
Some economic news from last night:
China:
Exports (YoY) (Aug) increased from 19.3% to 25.6%
Imports (YoY) (Aug) increased from 28.1% to 33.1%
Trade Balance (USD) (Aug) increased from 56.59B to 58.34B
Japan:
Average Cash Earnings (YoY) increased from 0.1% to 1.0%
Household Spending (YoY) (Jul) increased from -5.1% to 0.7%
Household Spending (MoM) (Jul) increased from -3.2% to -0.9%
Overall wage income of employees (Jul) increased from 0.1% to 1.0%
Overtime Pay (YoY) (Jul) decreased from 18.0% to 12.20%
Foreign Reserves (USD) (Aug) increased from 1,386.5B to 1,424.3B
South Korea:
Current Account (Jul) decreased from 8.85B to 8.21B
Australia:
AIG Services Index (Aug) decreased from 51.7 to 45.6
Building Approvals (MoM) decreased from -5.5% to -8.6%
Indonesia:
FX Reserves (USD) (Aug) increased from 137.30B to 144.80B
Some economic news from today:
China:
FX Reserves (USD) (Aug) decreased from 3.236T to 3.232T
Japan:
Coincident Indicator (MoM) (Jul) decreased from 2.1% to -0.1%
Leading Index (MoM) (Jul) decreased from 1.5% to -0.5%
Leading Index decreased from 104.6 to 104.1
Hong Kong:
Foreign Reserves (USD) (Aug) increased from 494.80B to 497.00B
Australia:
RBA Interest Rate Decision (Sep) remain the same at 0.10%
New Zealand:
GlobalDairyTrade Price Index increased from 0.3% to 4.0%
Singapore:
Foreign Reserves USD (MoM) (Aug) increased from 407.7B to 418.1B
EUROPE/EMEA:
Britain announced on Monday that it is once again postponing the implementation of border checks on goods travelling to Northern Ireland. Brexit Minister David Frost said the government would continue to trade “on the current basis,” maintaining grace periods that the UK gave itself after splitting from the EU’s economic embrace at the end of 2020. He did not set a new end date for the grace periods. London and Brussels have been at loggerheads over the Northern Ireland Protocol since Brexit into force on January 1, 2021. The British province remains within the EU’s customs unions, meaning that checks must be carried out on certain goods traveling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned plea to German voters on Tuesday to back her would-be successor Armin Laschet at this month’s national election, as an opinion poll showed support for their conservatives slumping to an all-time low. The Forsa poll for RTL/n-tv put support for the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) at 25%, extending their lead over the conservative CDU/CSU bloc, who dropped 2 points from the previous week to 19%, which n-tv said was a record trough. Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to step down after the poll.
The major Europe stock markets had a negative day:
- CAC 40 decreased 17.43 points or -0.26% to 6,726.07
- FTSE 100 decreased 37.81 points or -0.53% to 7,149.37
- DAX 30 decreased 89.03 points or -0.56% to 15,843.09
The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:
- EURUSD decreased 0.00232 or -0.20% to 1.18483
- GBPUSD decreased 0.00458 or -0.33% to 1.37924
- USDCHF increased 0.00374 or 0.41% to 0.91881
Some economic news from Europe today:
Swiss:
Unemployment Rate n.s.a. (Aug) decreased from 2.8% to 2.7%
Unemployment Rate s.a. (Aug) decreased from 3.0% to 2.9%
UK:
Halifax House Price Index (YoY) decreased from 7.6% to 7.1%
Halifax House Price Index (MoM) (Aug) increased from 0.4% to 0.7%
France:
French Reserve Assets Total (Aug) increased from 190,654M to 213,930M
Germany:
German Industrial Production (MoM) (Jul) increased from -1.0% to 1.0%
German ZEW Current Conditions (Sep) increased from 29.3 to 31.9
German ZEW Economic Sentiment (Sep) decreased from 40.4 to 26.5
Norway:
Manufacturing Production (MoM) (Jul) decreased from 0.7% to -0.6%
Euro Zone:
Employment Change (YoY) (Q2) remain the same at 1.8%
Employment Change (QoQ) (Q2) increased from 0.5% to 0.7%
Employment Overall (Q2) increased from 158,446.7K to 158,952.5K
GDP (QoQ) (Q2) increased from 2.0% to 2.2%
GDP (YoY) (Q2) increased from 13.6% to 14.3%
ZEW Economic Sentiment (Sep) decreased from 42.7 to 31.1
US/AMERICAS:
Around 7.5 million Americans lost their unemployment benefits over the weekend. An additional three million Americans are poised to lose their extra $300 in enhanced benefits. Some are hoping that the lack of unemployment pay will encourage people back into the workforce. There are currently 5.5 million unemployed citizens but over 10 million job openings. Most Republican-led states ended the enhanced unemployment benefits months ago. Data suggests that the states that ended enhanced employment benefits rose 4.4% more than states that continued to provide aid. The current unemployment rate in the US sits at 5.4%.
Capitol Hill is working to alter laws that may help parents re-join the workforce. The US remains one of the only first-world nations without a formal paid maternity or paternity leave program. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, 79% of American workers do not have paid family leave, and 60% of workers do not have paid medical leave. According to a survey by the center, 37% of unemployed Americans noted that they would return to work at a faster pace if offered paid family leave. Additionally, 58% of those polled said they would increase their work hours if offered paid leave. Around 10.6 million workers exited the workforce over the past year due to a lack of adequate childcare. The matter has not been addressed since 1993 under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which provided family and medical leave, albeit unpaid. It is believed that additional support for American families will receive bipartisan support.
US Market Closings:
- Dow declined 269.09 points or -076% to 35,100.00
- S&P 500 declined 15.4 points or -0.34% to 4,520.03
- Nasdaq advanced 10.81 points or 0.07% to 15,374.33
- Russell 2000 declined 16.44 points or -0/72% to 2,275.61
Canada Market Closings:
- TSX Composite declined 14.8 points or -0.07% to 20,806.63
- TSX 60 advanced 0.26 of a point or 0.02% to 1,245.92
Brazil Market Closing:
- Bovespa advanced 935.39 points or 0.8% to 117,868.63
ENERGY:
The oil markets had a negative day today:
- Crude Oil decreased 0.66 USD/BBL or -0.96% to 68.2200
- Brent decreased 0.6 USD/BBL or -0.83% to 71.6200
- Natural gas decreased 0.122 USD/MMBtu or -2.60% to 4.5750
- Gasoline decreased 0.0173 USD/GAL or -0.81% to 2.1295
- Heating oil decreased 0.0166 USD/GAL or -0.78% to 2.1244
The above data was collected around 13:47 EST on Tuesday
- Top commodity gainers: Methanol (3.52%) and Palm Oil (1.41%), Cocoa (2.84%) and Steel (1.23%)
- Top commodity losers: Palladium (-1.55%), Platinum (-2.21%), Lumber (-4.97%), and Natural Gas (-2.60%)
The above data was collected around 13:50 EST on Tuesday
BONDS:
Japan 0.041%(-0bp), US 2’s 0.22%(+0.016%), US 10’s 1.363%(+2.88bps); US 30’s 1.9736%(+0.02%),Bunds -0.3210% (+4.7bp), France 0.0270% (+5.3bp), Italy 0.7646% (+7bp), Turkey 16.40% (+1bp), Greece 0.876% (+7bp), Portugal 0.26% (+6bp); Spain 0.385% (+6.26bp) and UK Gilts 0.7410% (+5bp).
