Bond Yields slump as Empire State Index Suggests Further Slowdown

Asia Pacific stocks rose on Tuesday. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.03% at 3,277.10. Overall, the Singapore MSCI is down 0.24% at 306.85. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index is down 0.59% at 19,915.00. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 is up 0.03% at 28,870.00, while the Topix index is down 0.13% at 1981.50. South Korea’s Kospi is up 0.23% at 2,533.81. Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.53% at 7101.50.

Top News of the Day:

U.S. manufacturing looks likely to have slowed much more sharply than thought over the last month, as a closely-watched regional activity index posted its sharpest fall in over two years in August.

The Empire State Manufacturing index, compiled by the New York Federal Reserve, fell to -31.3 from 11.1 in July, its lowest level since May 2020 and its sharpest monthly drop since the early days of the pandemic.

Market Summary as per 15/08/2022:

European equities Monday closing. The DAX futures contract in Germany traded up 0.15% at 13,816.61, CAC 40 futures up 0.25% at 6569.96 and the UK 100 futures contract in the U.K. up 0.11% at 7,509.14.

In the U.S. on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.45% at 33912.45. The S&P 500 up 0.40% at 4297.15 and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.75% at 13667.18, NYSE closes down 0.06% at 15794.32

Top Market News Today:

In the Forex market, GBPUSD down 0.01% at 1.2051. The USDJPY up 0.06% at 133.379. The USDCHF up 0.17% at 0.9465. EURUSD up 0.07% at 1.0164, EUR/GBP up 0.09% at 0.8433. The USD/CNY up 0.23% at 6.7890 at the time of writing.

In the Commodity market U.S. Gold futures up 0.15% at $1,781.58. Elsewhere, Silver futures down 0.35% at $20.178 per ounce, Platinum down 0.59% at $929.00 per ounce, and Palladium down 0.37% at $2141.00.

Crude Oil up on Tuesday; Brent Crude Oil up 0.72% at $94.11 per barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (CLc1) up 1.08% at $88.18.

In the Cryptocurrency Markets, Bitcoin at 23963.80 down 0.57%, Ethereum down 1.42% at 1873.90, Litecoin at 60.54 down 0.25%, at the time of writing.

Top Market Segment to Watch Out Today:

American Airlines: American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) Inc has cut thousands of domestic and international flights from its November schedule as part of the carrier’s efforts to reduce disruptions that have afflicted the industry this year.

The carrier has scheduled 31,000, or 16%, fewer flights for the month that contains the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel period, data from aviation analytics company Cirium showed.

Economic News:

US: U.S. single-family homebuilders’ confidence and New York state factory activity fell in August to their lowest levels since near the start of the COVID pandemic, a further sign the economy is softening as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell 6 points to 49 this month, the eighth consecutive monthly decline and the lowest reading outside of the pandemic era since 2014, a survey released on Monday showed. A reading under 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as poor than good.

According to the NAHB, rising construction costs and high mortgage rates weighed on sentiment. The Fed’s increasingly aggressive fight to quash high inflation by lifting borrowing costs has already begun to be felt in the housing sector, which is highly sensitive to interest rates.

The current sales of single-family homes component fell to 57 from 64 and the gauge of single-family sales expectations for the next six months fell to 47 from 49, while the prospective buyer traffic index declined to 32 from 37.

Eurozone: Britain’s Labour Party called on Monday for the energy price cap to be frozen to help people deal with another expected surge in fuel bills, putting pressure on the Conservative government as Britons grapple with the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the two Conservative Party politicians vying to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, have so far promised more limited help than the 29-billion-pound plan outlined by main opposition leader Keir Starmer.

Starmer said his Labour Party, if in power, would cap energy costs at the current level of 1,971 pounds ($2,386) per year for six months from October and would pay for it by extending a windfall tax on oil and gas companies in the North Sea to raise 8.1 billion pounds.

Charities in Britain are warning that millions of people could be forced into poverty if the government does not soften the blow with a new support package.

Top Economic Releases Today:

1. U.K. Claimant Count Change (Jul) today at 2:00 this time estimated -32.0K, previously which was -20.0K. 
2. U.S. Building Permits (Jul) today at 8:30 this time estimated 1.650M, previously which was 1.696M.
3. GERMANY ZEW Economic Sentiment (Aug) today at 5:00 this time estimated -53.80, previously which was -53.80.
4. CANADA Core CPI (MoM) (Jul) today at 8:30 previously which was 0.3%.
5. JAPAN Trade Balance (Jul) today at 19:50 this time estimated at -1,405.00B, previously which was 1,398.50B.

TECHNICAL SUMMARY

GBPUSD

TRADE SUGGESTION- SELL AT 1.2046, TAKE PROFIT AT 1.2036 AND STOP LOSS AT 1.2058

EURUSD

TRADE SUGGESTION- SELL AT 1.0157, TAKE PROFIT AT 1.0122 AND STOP LOSS AT 1.0179

GBPJPY

TRADE SUGGESTION- SELL AT 160.722, TAKE PROFIT AT 159.971 AND STOP LOSS AT 161.203

CHFJPY

TRADE SUGGESTION- BUY AT 140.866, TAKE PROFIT AT 141.155 AND STOP LOSS AT 140.478

SPI 200 (ASX)

TRADE SUGGESTION- BUY AT 7000.00 TAKE PROFIT AT 7100.00 AND STOP LOSS AT 6919.00

WTI CRUDE OIL

TRADE SUGGESTION- SELL AT 88.78 TAKE PROFIT AT 87.57 AND STOP LOSS AT 89.38

GOLD

TRADE SUGGESTION- BUY AT 1778.26, TAKE PROFIT AT 1783.19 AND STOP AT 1768.93

ETHEREUM

TRADE SUGGESTION- BUY AT 1873.00 TAKE PROFIT AT 1910.35 AND STOP AT 1840.55