US Market

The index is having a losing week, reacting negatively to upbeat economic data, since they sustain prospects for further tightening by the US Fed

Watch today’s US Open for insights on BoE governor Bailey dovish testimony, Bank of Canada rate hold after two straight hikes and Wall Street’s negative reaction to strong economic data

Apple is expected to launch its iPhone 15 on 12 September. However, there are headwinds that have clouded the release. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that China has banned government officials from using iPhones for work purposes. Bloomberg then reported that the ban may be extended to government-backed agencies and state companies.

The FXCM Cannabis Stock Basket has been moving in a downtrend almost since inception. However, the downside momentum seems to be slowing. This is evident by the shift in trendline gradient from the green trendline to the shallower sloped orange trendline. In fact, the basket has positively broken above the orange trendline (black ellipse) in a recent show of strength.

Watch today’s US Open for insights on the rate hold by the Australian central bank, demand for USD amidst cautious market sentiment and oil cuts extension by Saudi Arabia and Russia

On Sunday, at the IAAA Mobility auto show in Munich, Mercedes-Benz introduced a new electric-sedan concept vehicle. Branded as CLA Class, the concept vehicle has a range of more than 466 miles, based on global industry standards. This is competitive and is superior to Tesla’s Model 3 long range version, which has a range of 391 miles on the same measure.

Watch today’s US Open for insights on the US data dump, another poor PMI from China and continued fears around the property market and more

Core PCE printed at 4.2% y/y, up from the last release of 4.1% y/y, and headline inflation was higher at 3.3% y/y (compared with the previous 3% y/y). The upticks were due to base effects. Although regarded as volatile, the monthly figures for core and headline PCE were flat, and in line with projections at 0.2% m/m. This is annualised to 2.43%.

August has been a month highlighting US large-cap stock resilience. The robust artificial intelligence led rally in US stocks ran into headwinds during August. But the month is ending with the major US indexes showing signs of durability.

Job creation in the US decelerated for August, as indicated by the ADP report. This suggests that the U.S. economy, which has been resilient, could potentially be entering a phase of moderation due to the increased influence of elevated interest rates.

Yesterday’s JOLTS data came in at 8.83m. This was lower than the previous 9.17m and below the consensus of 9.49m. This reiterates the part of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech suggesting that the US labour market is continuing to rebalance. Chair Powell pointed out that “Job openings remain high but are trending lower” and that “The rebalancing of the labour market has continued over the past year but…