CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Tue Nov 5th, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
U.S. Dollar Index, +0.35%, 97.56
USDJPY, +0.45%, $108.71
EURUSD, -0.34%, $1.1128
GBPUSD, -0.37%, $1.2889
USDCAD, +0.11%, $1.3153
AUDUSD, -0.38%, $0.6889
NZDUSD, -0.51%, $0.6402
In trade, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that good progress has been made in “Phase One” negotiations, companies may soon be granted licenses to work with Huawei, and auto tariffs on imported products may not be imposed. Beijing is pressing the U.S. to remove a 15% tariff that was imposed on roughly $112 billion worth of Chinese goods on Sept. 1, but no decision has been made, Politico reported citing sources.
The Financial Times later on Monday also said the White House is considering whether to roll back levies on $112 billion of Chinese imports including clothing, appliances, and flatscreen monitors, which were introduced at a 15% rate on Sept. 1. Trump had said on Friday evening that negotiations about a “phase one” agreement were going well and he hoped to sign the deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a U.S. location when work on the agreement was completed.
U.S. Treasuries ended the session lower, as the risk-on trading sentiment in the stock market decreased demand for the safe-haven asset class. The 2-yr yield increased three basis points to 1.59%, and the 10-yr yield increased six basis points to 1.79%. The U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.35% to 97.56.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, +0.37%, 3,078.27
Nasdaq, +0.56%, 8,433.20
Nikkei Futures, +1.05%, 23,202.5
The S&P 500 energy sector (+3.2%) surged past the other sectors, rising more than 3% as the value-oriented space also benefited from higher oil prices ($56.69/bbl, +0.48, +0.9%). The sector saw volume that was below average.
The S&P 500 industrials (+1.2%), financials (+0.9%), and materials (+0.8%) sectors followed suit with gains that were also more than the benchmark index, as did the Dow Jones Transportation Average (+2.3%) and Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (+2.2%).
On the other hand, losses in the defensive-oriented utilities (-1.3%), real estate (-1.1%), consumer staples (-0.9%), and health care (-0.4%) sectors restrained further gains in the broader market.
Notable stocks from Monday included McDonald’s (MCD 188.66, -5.28, -2.7%) and Under Armour (UAA 17.13, -4.01, -19.0%). McDonald’s fired CEO Steve Easterbrook after he used “poor judgement” in having a consensual relationship with an employee. Under Armour reported lacklustre sales activity and confirmed its accounting practices are being probed by the SEC and Department of Justice.