403117 July 27, 2024 20:30 Forexlive Latest News Market News
UPCOMING
EVENTS:
Tuesday
The US Job
Openings are expected at 8.025M vs. 8.140M prior. Job openings have been on a
steady downtrend since peaking in March 2022 and they are getting close to the
pre-pandemic level. This is good news for the Fed as the labour market
continues to rebalance via less job availability rather than more layoffs. Nonetheless,
the labour market is a spot to keep an eye on carefully in this part of the
cycle.
The US Consumer
Confidence is expected at 99.5 vs. 100.4 prior. The last report saw a slight
dip in confidence although the index has been in a range since 2022. Dana M.
Peterson, Chief Economist at The Conference Board said: “Confidence pulled back
in June but remained within the same narrow range that’s held throughout the
past two years, as strength in current labour market views continued to
outweigh concerns about the future. However, if material weaknesses in the
labour market appear, Confidence could weaken as the year progresses.”
Wednesday
The Australian Q2
CPI Y/Y is expected at 3.8% vs. 3.6% prior, while the Q/Q measure is seen at
1.0% vs. 1.0% prior. The Trimmed Mean CPI Y/Y is expected at 4.0% vs. 4.0%
prior, while the Q/Q measure is seen at 0.9% vs. 1.0% prior. Finally, the
Weighted Median Y/Y is expected at 4.3% vs. 4.4% prior, while the Q/Q reading
is seen at 1.0% vs. 1.1% prior.
As a reminder, the
market has been pricing a rate hike for the RBA following the last hot monthly
CPI readings, but eventually RBA’s Hauser poured cold water on those expectations stating that
it would be better to just keep the policy rate steady.
Another hot CPI
report though will likely trigger a hawkish reaction and the
probabilities for a rate hike might rise to roughly 50% (if not higher) from
the current 22% chance. A soft report won’t change anything in the bigger picture,
but it should quell the hawkish expectations.
The BoJ is
expected to keep interest rates steady at 0.00-0.10%, although the market is
assigning a 70% probability of a 10 bps hike. The central bank is expected to
announce its taper plan with the majority looking for bond purchases to be
trimmed to JPY 5tln per month (it’s currently around 6tln per month).
Meanwhile, there
are no strong signals that point to a reacceleration in inflation. It’s hard to
see a rate hike given that Japan strived to achieve inflation for decades and
it might ruin this accomplishment by tightening policy too fast.
The Tokyo CPI ex
Food and Energy slowed to 1.5% Y/Y last week, so I personally think that rate hike expectations are misplaced and it
opens up for a “sell the fact” opportunity. It also looks like an asymmetric
bet because if they do hike, they probably won’t be able to hike again for a
long time and if they don’t hike, there’s lots of unwinding in store.
Therefore, short Yen and long Nikkei look like some nice bets from a
risk-reward perspective.
I can also see the
BoJ meeting as being the most important event of the week for financial
markets. In fact, it looks like most of the moves we’ve been seeing in the past
10 days were driven by deleveraging from strengthening Yen. Basically, the
squeeze on the carry trades impacted all the other markets. The BoJ decision
could be the clearing event to get back to the old script.
The Eurozone Flash
CPI Y/Y is expected at 2.4% vs. 2.5% prior, while the Core CPI Y/Y is seen at
2.8% vs. 2.9% prior. The ECB members continue to repeat that September is a
live meeting for another rate cut and that the markets expectations of two more
cuts this year “seem reasonable”.
Having said that,
after this report we will get another one at the end of August before the ECB
decision on September 12th. The central bank will want to see the
disinflationary trend to remain intact to deliver a rate cut in September, if
we were to see a reacceleration, they might hold off and skip for another
month.
The US Q2 Employment
Cost Index (ECI) is expected at 1.0% vs. 1.2% prior. This is the most
comprehensive measure of labour costs, but unfortunately, it’s not as timely as
the Average Hourly Earnings data. The Fed though watches this indicator
closely. Although wage growth remains high by historic standards, it’s been
easing for the past two years.
The Fed is
expected to keep rates steady at 5.25-5.50%. The overall decision will likely
be dovish given the easing in the labour market and inflation, but it’s
unlikely that they will pre-commit to anything. The market has already fully
priced in a rate cut in September and December with some chances of a
back-to-back cut in November.
The next CPI
release will be key (barring a quick deterioration in the labour market) as
another benign report will likely see Fed Chair Powell pre-committing to a rate
cut in September at the Jackson Hole Symposium.
Thursday
The market is
assigning a 50% probability of a 25 bps rate cut for the BoE, bringing the Bank
Rate to 5.00% from the current 5.25% level. Again, I think expectations are
misplaced as there should be a strong probability of rates being kept steady.
The BoE’s chief
economist Huw Pill said that it was an open question of whether the time for a rate cut
was now or not and added that more data will come before the next policy
decision, but they had to be realistic about how much any one or two releases
could add to their assessment.
This suggested
that there wasn’t much willingness to deliver the first cut in August unless
the inflation data came out extremely good or the jobs data showed an extremely
ugly picture. Well, the latest UK CPI wasn’t good as the Core figure and the Services inflation remained
unchanged. On the labour market side, the latest report was mostly in line with expectations with wage growth
remaining elevated.
Therefore, I would
say that the BoE is likely to keep rates steady at 5.25%.
The US Jobless
Claims continue to be one of the most important releases to follow every week
as it’s a timelier indicator on the state of the labour market.
Initial Claims
remain pretty much stable around cycle lows and inside the 200K-260K range
created since 2022. Continuing Claims, on the other hand, have been on a
sustained rise, although they have stabilised more recently.
This shows that
layoffs are not accelerating and remain at low levels while hiring is more
subdued. This is something to keep an eye on. This week Initial Claims are
expected at 236K vs. 235K prior, while Continuing Claims are seen at 1856K vs.
1851K prior.
The US ISM
Manufacturing PMI is expected at 48.8 vs. 48.5 prior. Last week, the S&P Global US
Manufacturing PMI slipped
to 49.5 from 51.5 prior, although the commentary was largely positive.
The survey brought
some more welcome news in terms of inflation stating that “the rate of increase
of average prices charged for goods and services has slowed further, dropping
to a level consistent with the Fed’s 2% target”.
On the negative
side, “both manufacturers and service providers are reporting heightened
uncertainty around the election, which is dampening investment and hiring” and
“input costs rose at an increased rate, linked to rising raw material, shipping
and labour costs. These higher costs could feed through to higher selling
prices if sustained or cause a squeeze on margins”.
Friday
The Swiss CPI Y/Y
is expected at 1.3% vs. 1.3% prior, while the M/M measure is seen at -0.2% vs.
0.0% prior. As a reminder, the SNB cut interest
rates by 25 bps to
1.25% at the last meeting and lowered its inflation forecasts.
For context, the
central bank expected inflation to pick up slightly and average 1.5% in Q3, so
this is the baseline for their decision and if inflation were to undershoot
expectations, then the SNB will deliver another cut in September. The market is
already assigning a 75% probability of a rate cut in September given that the last CPI report came out softer than expected.
The US NFP is
expected to show 175K jobs added in July vs. 206K in June, and the Unemployment
Rate to remain unchanged at 4.1%. The Average Hourly Earnings Y/Y is expected
at 3.7% vs. 3.9% prior, while the M/M measure is seen at 0.3% vs. 0.3% prior.
The Fed at the moment is very focused on the labour market as they fear a quick
deterioration.
As a reminder, the
Fed forecasted the unemployment rate to average 4% in 2024, so I can see them getting
a bit uncomfortable and deliver a rate cut if unemployment rises to 4.2%.
Again, this wouldn’t be a surprise as a rate cut in September is already fully expected, so at the margin, the
market might increase the probabilities for a back-to-back rate cut in
November.
For now, the data
suggests that the labour market is rebalancing via less hires rather than more
layoffs and overall, there are no material signs of deterioration.
The last report was relatively softer than expected but still a
decent one. The uptick in the unemployment rate at first impact was perceived
as bad news, but looking at the details it wasn’t as bad.
In fact, the
entire increase in unemployment during the first half of 2024 has been due to
new entrants and re-entrants, and not layoffs. This is something we have also
seen from other data like Job Openings and Jobless Claims where the softening
in the labour market came from less hires rather than more layoffs.
For more
information about the last report click here.
This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.
403100 July 27, 2024 05:14 Forexlive Latest News Market News
For most of the week, the flow of funds sent the JPY and CHF higher on flight to safety flows. The AUD (and NZD) lower as risk off sentiment dominated on the back of slowdown in China, lower commodities and stocks moving lower.
Today saw a reversal of some of those trends.
For the day, the AUDSD is the strongest of the majors. The CHF is ending as the weakest. The JPY is ending the day mixed. The USD which was mixed for a lot of the week is ending the week with the same fortunes today.
Stocks moved higher in both Europe and the US today.
The major European indices bounced back in trading today with all the indices higher.
For the trading week, most of the indices were higher except Italy’s FTSE MIB
The final numbers in the US closed the day with gains across the board.
For the trading week, the results were mixed with the Dow up for the 4th consecutive week. The Russell 2000 was up for the 3rd week.. The S&P and the Nasdaq were down for the 2nd consecutive week. Next week will be influenced by a slew of earnings highlighted by Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Amazon amongst other large cap titans in various industries.
US yields are closing the day near lows across the yield curve:
For the trading week:
The 2-10 year rose by 8.3 basis points for the week to -19.4 basis pointe. The 2-30 year spread is ending positive by 6.7 basis points.
Fundamentally today, the PCE data was consistent with the PCE data from the GDP data yesterday.
The core PCE moved up by 0.188% (rounded to 0.2%. The YoY rose by 2.6%. The was unchanged from last month. The headline PCE rose of 0.1% (revised higher) with the YoY dipping to 2.5% from 2.6%.
The Michigan consumer survey data was mixed with the sentiment moving higher vs the preliminary, the current conditions lower and the expectations higher . Inflation results were more or less as expected and close to last months levels.
IN addition to the parade of earnings, the Fed, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan will announce interest rate decision. The US jobs report will be released on Friday. Australia and EU CPI will be released. China PMI will be released as well.
Thank you for the support.this week. Wishing you all a great weekend (PS enjoy the Olympics).
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.
403099 July 27, 2024 04:14 Forexlive Latest News Market News
The US stocks have closed the week with gains on the day.
The S&P and the Nasdaq remain lower on the week. The Dow and the small-cap Russell 2000 closed higher with the Russell 2000 the best performer on the rotation on hopes lower rates would help those companies going forward.
The final numbers are showing:
The small-cap Russell 2000 rose to 37.08 points or 1.67% at 2260.06.
For the trading week:
Next week is a huge week with Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft all scheduled to release earnings.
Today:
For a list of the other companies scheduled to release can be found HERE. Of course the Fed interest rate decision on Wednesday will also be a key event. The week will also end with the US jobs report on Friday (177K estimate with the unemployment rate at 4.1%).
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.
403098 July 27, 2024 02:39 Forexlive Latest News Market News
Next week will be a key earnings release week. 4 of 7 of the Magnificent 7 will be released with Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Apple and Amazon all scheduled to report.
As if that wasn’t enough, McDonald’s, Pfizer, Merck, AMD, Starbucks, Boeing, Qualcomm, Intel, Exxon Mobil and Chevron will also report.
Monday
Before Open:
After Close:
Tuesday
Before Open:
After Close:
Wednesday
Before Open:
After Close:
Thursday
Before Open:
After Close:
Friday
Before Open:
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.
403094 July 27, 2024 00:14 Forexlive Latest News Market News
The major European indices have bounced back in trading today with all the indices higher. A snapshot of the closing levels shows:
For the trading week, most of the indices were higher with the exception of Italy’s FTSE MIB
In the European debt market yields move lower today, Looking at the benchmark 10 year yields:
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.
403093 July 26, 2024 22:14 Forexlive Latest News Market News
A mix of the details compared to the preliminary.
In an interesting study chart of the consumer sentiment within the survey, those surveyed with the Top tercile of stock holdings had higher confidence, while those who did not all stocks has a much more negative view on the consumer sentiment. That is not too surprising given the relative rise in US stock markets over the last year and a half.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.
403092 July 26, 2024 22:14 Forexlive Latest News Market News
As the opening bell rings on the major US exchanges, the major indices are trading higher. Having said that the NASDAQ index was up over 200 points in premarket trading and is currently up only 136 points. Having said that with the declines this week, any gain is accepted at this point.
A snapshot of the market currently shows:
The small-cap Russell 2000 (which is higher this week by 3.24%) is trading up 38.52 points or 1.73% at 2261.42. For the week, the index is up 3.435%. Last week the index was up 1.67% and the week before the index was up 5.996%.
Looking at the NASDAQ from a technical perspective, getting above 17353, and a swing area at 17494 – 17544 is needed to give the buyers some confidence and gives sellers some cause for pause on the downside.
Looking at the US yields:
Looking at other markets:
The USDJPY has been talked about as the reason for the stock decline (open for some debate). The USDJPY moved up to technical resistance between 154.53 and 154.88, and found willing sellers. The price is back down testing the 38.2% retracement of the move up from December 2023 low at 153.65. The pair has found some support buyers on the look.
With traders in stocks, trading USDJPY, holding that level and bouncing might help stocks. Conversely, breaking below 153.65, followed by more selling the USDJPY could hurt the stocks (especially the USDJPY).
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.
403091 July 26, 2024 20:39 Forexlive Latest News Market News
The core PCE was a bit higher than expectations which is somewhat congruent with the core PCE data released yesterday through the GDP report.
The Fed pricing sees 67 basis points of cut by the end of the year with a cut in September priced in.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.
403090 July 26, 2024 20:39 Forexlive Latest News Market News
Today’s data, may help the Fed with their decision next week (and going forward), as the “favored measure of inflation” (the core PCE) will be released at 8:30 AM ET.
A review of the economic data to be released today, will be highlighted by that PCE data (and Personal income and spending) along with the University of Michigan consumer sentiment (final) at 10 AM ET. I have been hearing how the core PCE will be 0.18% but the Reuters estimate has it at 0.1%. Be aware.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.
403089 July 26, 2024 19:39 Forexlive Latest News Market News
Headlines:
Markets:
Markets are taking a bit of a breather today, following the volatile risk selloff in the last few days.
Equities are faring better with S&P 500 futures seen up 0.7% as tech shares are finding some respite. European indices are also holding higher, with the French CAC 40 index seen up 0.9% though still largely down on the week.
In FX, USD/JPY is also keeping with the overnight bounce in a push to 154.70 from around 153.80 earlier in the session. The 100-hour moving average for the pair is seen at 154.83 and will be a key near-term level to watch before the weekend.
As we see traders sense some relief, AUD/USD is also seen higher by 0.3% to 0.6560 while USD/CHF is also up 0.2% to 0.8835 on the day. The latter fell to its lowest since March yesterday but staved off a firm break below 0.8800 at least.
In other markets, gold is also up 0.4% to $2,373 while Bitcoin is up roughly 3% to $67,231 currently.
It’s all pointing to just a bit of respite as all eyes turn to the US PCE report next. That will be the make or break for overall sentiment before we close out the week.
This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.
403085 July 26, 2024 18:39 Forexlive Latest News Market News
Broader markets are seeking a respite today and if that is to hold, it will need the next key US inflation indicator to play ball. So far, risk trades are sensing some relief today after a rough week. But can it hold through until the weekend?
The expectation for the US PCE price index is for the monthly reading to come in at +0.1% for both the headline and core estimates. Meanwhile, the annual reading is expected to be at +2.5% for both the headline and core estimates as well. However, Goldman Sachs argues that we could see the core reading be at +0.2% m/m and +2.6% y/y with the latter unchanged from May.
The narrative at the moment is that the disinflation process in the US is continuing to take hold. However, it is moving at a rather gradual pace. And given the circumstances, there might be bumps in the road as per what policymakers are expecting as well.
So, even with a 2.6% reading in the core annual estimate today, it’s not a major setback to the Fed.
But with markets pretty much sitting on edge this week, any readings above that could easily spook investors. And all of the early gains we’re seeing in stocks and risk could be in jeopardy before the weekend comes along.
This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.
403081 July 26, 2024 17:14 Forexlive Latest News Market News
That is leading to a much better mood in broader markets so far today. USD/JPY is also now trading up by 0.2% to 154.25 with the dollar keeping marginally lower elsewhere. While still in narrow ranges, EUR/USD and GBP/USD are both up 0.1% to 1.0851 and 1.2865 respectively.
Besides that, gold is also seen higher by 0.4% to $2,374 after having fallen by 1.4% in trading yesterday.
In Europe, stocks are also nudging higher now with the DAX up 0.2% and the CAC 40 up 0.9% on the day.
It’s all pointing to a slight reprieve after the continued selloff in risk over the last few days. But there’s still one final hurdle to get through in the US PCE price index later.
This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.