CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Mon Jul 29th, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
Dollar Index +0.11%, 97.90
USDJPY, +0.04%, $108.67
EURUSD, -0.18%, $1.1127
GBPUSD, -0.57%, $1.2383
USDCAD, +0.05%, $1.3167
AUDUSD, -0.59%, $0.6910
NZDUSD, -0.44%, $0.6635
U.S. advance estimate for second-quarter GDP increased 2.1% (consensus 1.8%), which did mark a modest slowdown from last quarter but not as much as expected due to strong consumer spending. The key takeaway from the report is that it revealed some impressive strength in the U.S. consumer, evidenced by the 4.3% growth in personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which was the second highest over the past 16 quarters.
U.S. Treasuries finished the session with slight losses, pushing yields higher. The 2-yr yield increased two basis points to 1.87%, and the 10-yr yield increased one basis point to 2.08%. The U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.11% to 97.90. WTI crude increased 0.3% to $56.19/bbl.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, +0.74%, 3,025.86
Nasdaq, +1.10%, 8,016.95
Nikkei Futures, +0.01%, 21,600.0
The stock market wrapped up the week on a high note, as upbeat results from Alphabet (GOOG 1250.41, +118.29, +10.5%)and encouraging Q2 GDP data helped lift the S&P 500 (+0.74%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.1%) to record closes. The Russell 2000 rose 1.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased just 0.2%.
Friday’s session, much like in the days before, included its fair share of better-than-expected earnings reports. Alphabet gets the lead due to its mega-cap status, but honorable mentions include Starbucks (SBUX 99.11, +8.13, +8.9%)and Twitter (TWTR 41.80, +3.68, +9.7%). Dow components Intel (INTC 51.59, -0.57, -1.1%) and McDonald’s (MCD 215.58, +1.14, +0.5%)underperformed despite positive results.
The S&P 500 communication services sector (+3.3%), which is home to Alphabet and Twitter, nearly tripled the advance in the runner-up consumer staples sector (+1.2%). Laggards included energy (-0.5%) and industrials (-0.2%), although losses were modest. Amazon (AMZN 1942.70, -31.22, -1.6%) was also left out of the advance after the company missed profit estimates and guided Q3 operating income below expectations.
In corporate news, Intel confirmed that Apple (AAPL 207.74, +0.72, +0.4%)will acquire most of its smartphone modem chip business for $1 billion.3M (MMM 173.98, -4.15, -2.3%)disclosed an internal investigation to determine if its expenditures may have violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Department of Justice approved the merger between T-Mobile US (TMUS 84.25, +4.34, +5.4%)and Sprint (S 7.99, +0.55, +7.4%).