US Stocks Rally Again – Nasdaq up 0.84%
US markets kicked off a crucial week on the front foot as all three of the major indices posted gains on the first day of trading after the Jackson Hole symposium. The Dow rose 0.62%, the S&P 0.63% and the Nasdaq led the way again, up 0.84% on the day. US treasury yields drifted lower after early gains as investors debated the likelihood of a further hike from the Fed, the benchmark 10-year now trading just under 4.21%. FX markets were unimpressed with most of the fresh news, USDJPY once again hit another high before dropping off and in general, the dollar pulled back by the end of the day. Gold, however, jumped again, hitting a high of just under $1,926/oz, whilst Oil traded in relatively tight and familiar ranges.
All eyes on Data for the Fed
US markets rallied yesterday as stock traders optimistically viewed Jerome Powell’s comments from a rose-tinted dovish aspect but, most investors now know that we have central banks focusing hard on data for their next interest rate moves. This makes this week’s data calendar all the more compelling as we have a raft of data out of the US, culminating in the crucial non-Farms number at the end of the week but also including the Fed’s favoured inflation indicator, the PCE Price Index on Thursday. Jobs numbers feature heavily this week and investors are hoping for a slowing of this market to encourage the Fed to stop raising rates, whilst not crashing to indicate a pending recession. With markets set to react harder to off-expectation prints, traders are buckling up their seat belts for what could be a fast and furious ride as data releases come thick and fast over the next four trading days.
Event Calendar Picks up from Today
It was a relatively quiet day on the event calendar yesterday but this could be a pivotal week in terms of data updates and the event calendar picks up from today. There is not too much due out in the Asian session, but the focus will move to Australia late in the day as RBA Governor-elect Michelle Bullock speaks in Canberra. The European day is equally quiet but things should get interesting after the New York open when we have the latest CB Consumer Confidence data out as well as the first US jobs number of the week in the form of the JOLTS Job Openings data.
