CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Tue Aug 27th, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
U.S. Dollar Index, +0.40%, 98.03
USDJPY, +1.06%, $105.97
EURUSD, -0.37%, $1.1101
GBPUSD, +0.22%, $1.2279
USDCAD, -0.48%, $1.3253
AUDUSD, +0.93%, $0.6769
NZDUSD, +0.38%, $0.6385
Risk assets rebounded on Monday, catalyzed by Trump’s contention that China called top U.S. negotiators to restart trade talks. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman denied knowledge of any such calls while the Chinese press downplayed the significance of Trump’s statement. In a conciliatory move, Trump reciprocated China’s willingness to resolve their dispute through “calm” negotiations.
U.S. Treasuries finished the day lower, giving up an overnight rally following Trump’s trade comments. The 2-yr yield increased two basis points to 1.55%, and the 10-yr yield increased one basis point to 1.55%. The U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.4% to 98.03. WTI crude lost 0.9% to $53.70/bbl on speculation that a possible U.S.-Iran meeting could lead to oversupply.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, +1.10%, 2,878.38
Nasdaq, +1.32%, 7,853.73
Nikkei Futures, +1.72%, 20,458.0
The S&P 500 advanced 1.1%, which was comparable to the gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.1%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.32%), and Russell 2000 (+1.1%). Most of the price action occurred before the open, but the market was able to close near session highs.
In key corporate news, Bristol-Myers (BMY 48.11, +1.53, +3.3%)sold Celgene’s (CELG 97.00, +3.01, +3.2%)psoriasis drug Otezla to Amgen (AMGN 205.41, +6.33, +3.2%)for $13.4 billion in cash. Bristol-Myers hoped that by selling the rights to Otezla, it would appease any antitrust concerns as it tries to get its merger agreement with Celgene approved.