CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Mon Sep 23rd, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
U.S. Dollar Index, +0.24%, 98.51
USDJPY, -0.43%, $107.56
EURUSD, -0.21%, $1.1018
GBPUSD, -0.38%, $1.2479
USDCAD, -0.01%, $1.3261
AUDUSD, -0.34%, $0.6769
NZDUSD, -0.70%, $0.6259
There were no notable U.S. economic prints on Friday.
In trade, the combination on Friday of tough words from Trump and the cancellation of a planned trip by Chinese agriculture officials to two farm states seemed to cast a cloud over prospects for a trade deal and a risk-off in New York session. But both sides moved on Saturday to indicate that the negotiations continue. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said on Saturday that fairly senior negotiators had “conducted constructive discussions” in Washington in recent days and had “agreed to continue to maintain communication.” The tone of the Xinhua statement was matched by a separate statement from the United States trade representative in Washington. “These discussions were productive, and the United States looks forward to welcoming a delegation from China for principal-level meetings in October,” the statement said.
Treasuries spent the bulk of the day near their flat lines before rallying to highs in the afternoon. The 10-yr yield slipped two basis points to 1.76%. U.S. Dollar index +0.24%, 98.51.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, -0.49%, 2,992.03
Nasdaq, -0.80%, 8,117.67
Nikkei Futures, +0.18%, 21,910.0
The major averages briefly recovered from their lows in the afternoon but returned toward those lows before the close as cyclical sectors struggled. The top-weighted technology sector (-1.1%) was among the worst performers, widening its loss in the afternoon. Chipmakers got off to a weak start and remained under pressure into the close. The PHLX Semiconductor Index lost 1.8%, surrendering 2.7% for the week. Xilinx (XLNX 96.55, -7.07, -6.8%) lagged from the start after the company’s CFO resigned. Texas Instruments (TXN 126.67, -2.16, -1.7%) lost nearly 2.0% despite increasing its quarterly dividend.
On the upside, countercyclical sectors like health care (+0.6%) and utilities (+0.4%) spent the day in positive territory. The health care sector extended this week’s gain to 1.0%, drawing some encouragement from a report that the Senate will not endorse a plan put forth by House Speaker Pelosi to lower drug prices.
Friday’s trading volume was well above average due to quadruple witching. As a result, more than 2.5 billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.