Wealth Wednesday

Market Data

Local

Global

*Data as of 4pm WAT

Market News

Local

Global

Weekly Investment Watchlist

Market Commentary

Asia and Australia

• Asian equities experienced a decline on Wednesday, with major benchmarks all in negative territory. Hang Seng recorded the most significant losses, and mainland stocks were also down. Nikkei had its largest one-day percentage drop in 2023, while Kospi, Taiex, and ASX also sharply declined.

• The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) pledged to support a “stable and healthy development” of China’s real estate market during its H2 work conference chaired by newly appointed governor Pan Gongsheng.

• China’s foreign exchange regulators issued window guidance to some commercial banks, instructing them to reduce or postpone their purchases of US dollars to slow down the yuan’s depreciation.

• There is ongoing attention on Japan Government Bonds (JGB) yields following Yield Curve Control (YCC) tweaks, with the 10-year yield reaching 0.625%, its highest level since April 2014.

• Deputy Governor Uchida, in the first individual speech since the YCC tweak on Friday, explained that the move aimed to mitigate potential side effects of capping the 10-year yield at 0.5%.

• The Bank of Thailand raised its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%, as expected, bringing it to the highest level in nine years.

• South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2.3% YoY in July, slightly below the consensus of 2.4% and the previous month’s 2.7%, marking the lowest advance since June 2021.

• New Zealand’s Q2 employment growth unexpectedly increased to 1.0% QoQ from the 0.8% gain in Q1, contrasting with expectations of a fall to 0.6%.

Europe, Middle East, Africa

• European equity markets were mostly lower, although they recovered from the worst levels. Energy, Food/Beverage, and Autos/Parts outperformed, while Travel/Leisure, Basic Resources, and Retail lagged.

• UK PM Sunak expressed optimism about inflation, believing there is “light at the end of the tunnel,” but he was unsure whether the government would meet its target to halve inflation by year-end.

• Eurozone disinflation may pose a potential headwind for corporate profits.

• It is anticipated that the UK housing market will reach its trough by winter 2023/24.

• Wheat prices surged following further Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Odesa port and grain silos.

The Americas

• JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) numbers came in lower than expected and the previous month’s figures at 9.58 million job openings. The ratio of job openings to unemployed workers remained unchanged at 1.6, signifying that people are trying to hold on to their jobs.

• The ISM Manufacturing numbers slightly improved to 49.4 but still remained in contractionary territory. The positive driver was an improvement in Backlog orders while manufacturing employment declined significantly.

• AMD revenue exceeded forecasts and provided an upbeat outlook as production of AI accelerator chips increased.

• Electronic Arts missed quarterly bookings expectations and forecasted weak performance.

• Pinterest saw stronger margins as an ad rebound boosted its quarterly results.

• Fed’s Bostic does not see a need for a September rate hike and predicts an orderly slowdown in inflation. Chicago Fed’s Goolsbee reiterated that the September decision will depend on data.

• The US pulled back its offer to buy 6 million barrels of oil for the emergency reserve, citing market conditions.

The Week Ahead:

• Monday:

  • Large Retailer Sales (Japan)

  • NBS Manufacturing PMI (China)

  • Chicago Purchasing Managers Index (US)

• Tuesday:

  • Unemployment Rate (Japan)

  • Caixin Manufacturing PMI (China)

  • Unemployment Rate (EA)

  • S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (Canada)

  • ISM Manufacturing PMI (US)

• Wednesday:

  • BOJ Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes (Japan)

  • ADP Employment Change (US)

  • U.S Added 324,000 Jobs in July Beating Estmate of +190,000 Jobs

• Thursday:

  • Producer Price Index (EA)

  • Bank of England Minutes (United Kingdom)

  • BoE Governor Bailey Speech (United Kingdom)

  • Initial Jobless Claims (US)

  • S&P Global Composite PMI (US)

  • ISM Services PMI (US)

• Friday:

  • Retail Sales (EA)

  • Average Hourly Earnings (US)

  • Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (Canada)

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this report is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice. The information is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed.