19 Aug 2022

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed up last night. As of the close, the Dow rose 0.06%, the Nasdaq rose 0.21%, and the S&P rose 0.23%. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell 0.31% to close at 2.886, a difference of about -33 basis points compared with the yield on the two-year Treasury bond. The fear index VIX closed down 1.21%. Brent crude closed up 3.09%. Spot gold closed down 0.22% at $1,758.42 an ounce. The dollar index remained high, closing at 107.5.

Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday showed the current assessment of manufacturing rose to 6.2 from -12.3, above all economists' forecasts. The index above zero indicates growth in economic activity and is expected to record -5. However, a measure of sentiment for the next six months was below zero for the third straight month. The order index rose by about 20 points to -5.1, indicating that although the volume of orders is still decreasing, the rate of decline has slowed. Shorter lead times indicate that the supply chain is normalizing. The three major stock indexes opened flat.

U.S. existing-home sales fell for a sixth straight month in July, the latest sign that high borrowing costs and weakening demand are driving a rapid decline in the housing market. Data from the National Association of Realtors showed that contract closings fell 5.9% to an annual rate of 4.81 million in July, the lowest level since May 2020. U.S. existing-home sales have fallen nearly 26% since January, the biggest six-month drop since 1999, underscoring the housing market's wobbly effects from rising mortgage rates and prices. The industry is also experiencing a slowdown in construction and more buyers are walking away from deals. Weakening demand has led to a pickup in inventories, which could help cool house prices in the coming months.

Australia is considering cutting natural gas exports to fill a domestic energy shortage, which may further add to global supply pressures; OPEC is eager to extend a deal with Russia and other non-OPEC producers, and European gas storage is 75% full. According to the news released by the Moscow Exchange, the trading volume of RMB for delivery on the Moscow Exchange the next day surpassed the US dollar for the first time. As of 12:46 Moscow time, the trading volume of RMB reached 29.3 billion rubles, that of US dollars was 28.8 billion rubles, and that of euros was 35.3 billion rubles. The three major stock indexes closed higher.

Apple rose 0.88%. Apple held the iPhone 14 conference on September 7, a week earlier than rumors.

Amazon fell 1.85%, Amazon is testing short video delivery internally.

Tesla fell 0.84% as Tesla shortened Model 3 and Model Y delivery times in China.

Sources from: Investing.com; Reuters.com

Louis Yap

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