Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.87%, Shanghai Composite up 0.31%, Hang Seng up 0.33%, ASX up 0.26%
- Commodities : Gold at $1952.55 (+0.09%), Silver at $22.90 (+0.75%), Brent Oil at $87.96 (+0.56%), WTI Oil at $84.79 (+0.54%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 4.024, UK 10-year yield at 4.437, Germany 10-year yield at 2.496
News & Data:
- (USD) Crude Oil inventories 5.9M vs 2.1M expected
- (GBP) RICS House Price Balance -53% vs -50% expected
- (JPY) PPI y/y 3.6% vs 3.5% expected
Markets Update:
Asia-Pacific markets displayed a mix of performances as investors braced themselves for the release of the U.S. July consumer price index data on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters are anticipating an inflation rate of 3.3%, a slight increase from June’s 3%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rebounded impressively, climbing by 0.87% to conclude at 32,473.65. Simultaneously, the Topix index also saw gains, closing up 0.92% at 2,303.51. Notably, Japan’s July wholesale inflation rate, a measure of inter-company pricing for goods and services, decelerated to 3.6% from a revised figure of 4.3% recorded in June.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 managed a 0.26% increase, closing at 7,357.4, while South Korea’s Kospi faced a marginal decline of 0.14% to reach 2,601.56. Conversely, the Kosdaq index bucked the trend by gaining 0.25% to reach 911.29.
Shifting to the U.S., the previous night witnessed all three major indexes encountering losses. The Nasdaq, known for its tech-heavy components, led the downturn with a significant 1.17% drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a more moderate decrease of 0.54%, while the S&P 500 retreated by 0.7%.
Upcoming Events:
- 12:30 PM GMT – USD CPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – USD CPI y/y
- 12:30 PM GMT – USD Core CPI m/m
- 12:30 PM GMT – USD Unemployment Claims
- 2:30 PM GMT – USD Natural Gas Storage
