CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Thu Aug 29th, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
U.S. Dollar Index, +0.19%, 98.19
USDJPY, +0.34%, $106.08
EURUSD, -0.05%, $1.1085
GBPUSD, -0.58%, $1.2218
USDCAD, +0.19%, $1.3307
AUDUSD, -0.19%, $0.6740
NZDUSD, -0.38%, $0.6337
Wednesday’s session didn’t include any market-moving news or notable economic data, and it was mostly quiet on the U.S.-China trade front. In turn, there was an early fixation on the Treasury market, where the continued decline in yields fed into concerns about economic and corporate earnings growth. The 2-yr and 10-yr yields declined two basis points each to 1.51% and 1.47%, respectively. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.19% to 98.19.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday the possibility of issuing ultra-long U.S. bonds is “under very serious consideration” by the Trump administration, Bloomberg News reported. “If the conditions are right, then I would anticipate we’ll take advantage of long-term borrowing and execute on that,” Mnuchin told Bloomberg in an interview. Mnuchin said his renewed interest in 50- or 100-year bonds was unrelated to the drop in yields on shorter-term U.S. debt.
Elsewhere, Queen Elizabeth II approved UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend Parliament until Oct. 14, increasing the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, +0.65%, 2,887.94
Nasdaq, +0.38%, 7,856.88
Nikkei Futures, +0.29%, 20,480.0
U.S. stocks finished higher on Wednesday in a broad-based advance. The S&P 500 increased 0.65%, quickly overcoming a negative start that was attributed to declining Treasury yields and finished near session highs.
Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished the day in positive territory. Energy (+1.4%), consumer discretionary (+1.1%), and industrials (+1.1%) set the pace, while the utilities sector (-0.3%) was the lone holdout. The energy sector entered today’s session down over 10% in August, but it found some reprieve amid higher oil prices ($55.76/bbl, +$0.86, +1.6%) following bullish inventory data.
Coty (COTY 9.33, +0.53, +6.0%)and Tiffany & Co. (TIF 85.16, +2.49, +3.0%)outperformed following their earnings reports. Autodesk (ADSK 140.08, -10.13, -6.7%) fell after it provided some disappointing guidance that put some pressure on other software stocks within the information technology sector (+0.1%).