– US indices took another dive yesterday, leading S&P 500 to finish September as the worst month in post-pandemic era (-4.75%)

– S&P 500 finished yesterday’s trading 1.19% lower lower, Dow Jones dropped 1.59% while Nasdaq declined 0.44%. Russell 2000 moved 0.72% lower

– Stocks in Asia also took a hit. Nikkei dropped 2.2%, S&P/ASX 200 moved 2% lower and Kospi declined 1.5%. Indices from China did not trade today

– DAX futures point to a lower opening of the European session

– US Congress passed a stop-gap funding measure to avoid government shutdown. Bill was already signed by President Joe Biden

– US House of Representatives delayed vote on infrastructure until today

– Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng issued a directive ordering Chinese energy companies to secure supply of energy commodities for winter at all cost. Prices of oil jumped after the announcement

– According to Australian media, the European Union postponed free trade talks with Australia. It is said that it is revenge for Australia dropping a $90 billion submarine contract it had with one of French companies. Talks are set to be delayed from October to November

– Japanese manufacturing PMI index for September dropped from 52.7 to 51.5 (exp. 51.2)

– Australian manufacturing PMI index for September dropped from 51.6 to 51.2 (exp. 52.4)

– Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies seem to resist downward pressure and trade more or less flat on the day

– Commodities – precious metals, industrial metals and oil – are trading lower on the back of USD strengthening

– USD and JPY are the best performing major currencies while CAD and NZD lag the most