CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Wed Aug 21, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
Dollar Index -0.16%, 98.19
USDJPY, -0.34%, $106.28
EURUSD, +0.18%, $1.1098
GBPUSD, +0.30%, $1.2163
USDCAD, -0.04%, $1.3319
AUDUSD, +0.15%, $0.6774
NZDUSD, -0.03%, $0.6409
There were no economic prints in the U.S. on Tuesday.
Trump said his administration was looking at ways to reduce various taxes to help stimulate growth despite repeated claims on how the good the economy is doing. Market reaction was muted, as it remained unclear if discussions would lead to proposals that Congress would approve.
The 2-yr yield declined two basis points to 1.51%, and the 10-yr yield declined four basis points to 1.56%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.2% to 98.15. WTI crude declined 0.1% to $56.18/bbl.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, -0.07%, 2,900.51
Nasdaq, -0.68%, 7,948.56
Nikkei Futures, +0.55%, 20,677.22
The day began modestly lower following lackluster performances overseas, and stocks quickly fell to session lows on no specific news catalysts. After a brief intraday rally to the flat line, the S&P 500 and the other major averages steadily returned to those session lows by late afternoon. Selling accelerated into the close, stamping a sour note to the session.
All 11 S&P 500 sectors finished in negative territory, with the financials (-1.4%), materials (-1.2%), and consumer staples (-1.2%) sectors losing over 1.0%. The consumer discretionary sector (-0.1%) finished just below its flat line, supported by the positive reaction to Home Depot’s (HD 217.09, +9.14, +4.4%) earnings results.
In other earnings news, fellow retailers Kohl’s (KSS 44.88, -3.32, -6.9%) and TJX Companies (TJX 51.51, -0.04, -0.1%) finished mixed following their reports. Kohl’s fell despite beating top and bottom-line estimates. TJX finished little changed despite missing revenue estimates and guiding Q3 EPS below consensus.
Netflix (NFLX 298.99, -10.39, -3.4%) shares fell over 3%, likely pressured by a Bloomberg report that indicated Apple (AAPL 210.36, +0.01, unch) plans to launch its streaming service in November for $9.99/month.