- Global markets are opening the week with mixed sentiment. Asian stock markets are broadly lower, with Japan’s Nikkei down 0.8% and the MSCI Asia-Pacific index outside Japan falling 1.2%. U.S. and European stock futures are showing gains around 0.5%.
- China’s consumer inflation accelerated in August to 0.6% year-over-year, the fastest pace in 6 months, but below the 0.7% forecast. The uptick was largely due to higher food costs from weather disruptions rather than recovering domestic demand.
- China’s producer price index fell 1.8% year-over-year in August, worse than the expected 1.4% decline and the largest drop in 4 months. This indicates ongoing deflationary pressures in the world’s second-largest economy.
- Core inflation in China, excluding food and fuel prices, slowed to 0.3% – the lowest in nearly 3.5 years. The weak inflation data is increasing calls for further economic stimulus measures.
- Oil futures jumped in early trading, with WTI crude up 1.48% to $68.67 and Brent crude up 1.39% to $72.05. The rise is partly attributed to a potential hurricane system approaching the U.S. Gulf Coast
- In currency markets, the Thai Baht (THB) is the worst performer, down 1.0% against the USD, while the Australian Dollar (AUD) is showing strength as one of the best performers, up 0.1% against most major currencies. The Japanese Yen (JPY) is also notably weak across the board.
- The dollar is holding steady while the yen has pared some of its recent safe-haven gains. The onshore Chinese yuan weakened 0.27% to 7.1088 per dollar following the weak inflation data.
- Japan’s economy grew at a slightly slower pace than initially reported in Q2, expanding by an annualized 2.9% vs the preliminary estimate of 3.1%. Private consumption and capital expenditure were revised lower.
- Romania and Latvia, both NATO members, are investigating instances of Russian drones that crashed after breaching their airspace. NATO’s Deputy Secretary General called the incidents “irresponsible and potentially dangerous” but said there was no indication of a deliberate attack.
- EURUSD is down 0.1%. Silver gains 0.3% and gold is flat. Sentiment of the cryptocurrency market was slightly positive on the weekend with weak gains; Bitcoin moves 0.6% higher today tol around $54 618; Ethereum gains 0.5% and hovers around $2285.
Menu
