CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Fri Aug 30th, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
U.S. Dollar Index, +0.22%, 98.42
USDJPY, +0.31%, $106.44
EURUSD, -0.17%, $1.1059
GBPUSD, -0.23%, $1.2184
USDCAD, -0.18%, $1.3283
AUDUSD, +0.02%, $0.6736
NZDUSD, -0.35%, $0.6317
U.S. consumer spending growth was revised up to 4.7% from 4.3%, which was the strongest growth since the fourth quarter of 2014. Granted it’s a backward-looking data point, yet it offers a nice reminder that the U.S. consumer, supported by a tight labor market, has remained in good shape.
In trade, China’s Commerce Minister Gao repeated his country’s willingness to proceed with negotiations in a “calm” manner, adding Beijing wasn’t planning on immediately retaliating on the latest U.S. tariff increases. Gao hoped discussions could help remove the new tariffs imposed by the U.S., although he refrained from answering if retaliatory measures were entirely off the table.
The 2-yr yield increased one basis point to 1.52%, and the 10-yr yield increased five basis points to 1.52%. The U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.3% to 98.45.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, +1.27%, 2,924.58
Nasdaq, +1.48%, 7,973.39
Nikkei Futures, +0.85%, 20,655.0
Each of the major U.S. indices rose more than 1.0% on Thursday, lifted by China indicating it wants to prevent trade tensions from further escalating. The S&P 500 (+1.3%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.3%) both increased 1.3%. The Nasdaq Composite (+1.5%) and Russell 2000 (+1.6%) pulled out ahead.
Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished in positive territory. The industrials (+1.8%) and information technology (+1.7%) sectors outperformed amid solid gains in the trade-sensitive transportation and semiconductor spaces. The Dow Jones Transportation Average increased 2.0%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index increased 2.3%. The consumer staples sector (unch) was unchanged.