CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Tue Aug 20th, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
Dollar Index +0.15%, 98.35
USDJPY, +0.18%, $106.57
EURUSD, -0.07%, $1.1082
GBPUSD, -0.18%, $1.2128
USDCAD, +0.41%, $1.3327
AUDUSD, -0.38%, $0.6755
NZDUSD, -0.38%, $0.6405
More reports surfaced about stimulus plans in China and Germany, which helped kindle some curiosity about the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole Summit on Thursday and Friday.
China announced new loans will largely be benchmarked against rates that banks charge their best customers, promising cheaper borrowing for both households and companies, according to Bloomberg.
Germany indicated it could find $55 billion to combat recession, according to Reuters, after its economy shrunk last quarter. Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said, on Sunday, his country has the fiscal strength to counter any future economic crisis “with full force”. He also said, however, that Berlin could potentially free up 50 billion euros ($82 billion) of extra spending — effectively ditching its balanced budget rule.
U.S. Treasuries pulled back from a lengthy advance amid the positive disposition in equities. The 2-yr yield and the 10-yr yield increased six basis points each to 1.53% and 1.60%, respectively. The U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.3% to 98.38.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, +1.21%, 2,923.65
Nasdaq, +1.35%, 8,002.81
Nikkei Futures, +0.34%, 20,601.00
S&P 500 rose 1.2% on Monday in a broad-based advance that extended its rebound rally to a third day. The Nasdaq Composite (+1.4%), Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.0%), and Russell 2000 (+1.0%) also advanced at least 1.0%.
All 11 S&P 500 sectors posted decent gains on Monday. Seven sectors rose at least 1.0%, including a 2.1% gain in the energy sector amid higher oil prices ($56.00/bbl, +$1.11, +2.0%). Noticeable gains in the mega-cap stocks provided strong support for the information technology (+1.6%), communication services (+1.4%), and consumer discretionary (+1.3%) sectors.
Apple (AAPL 210.35, +3.85, +1.9%) was one of those mega-cap outperformers following a meeting between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Trump over the weekend. Trump said Cook presented a “compelling argument” for how tariffs would make it harder for Apple to compete against foreign competitors. Apple shares rose nearly 2%.
Estee Lauder (EL 201.65, +22.43) was another standout, rising 12.5% after the company beat top and bottom-line estimates and provided upbeat guidance for fiscal 2020.