24 Aug 2022

​Last night, the three major U.S. stock indexes fluctuated lower throughout the day. As of the close, the Dow fell 0.47%, the Nasdaq closed 0% flat, and the S&P fell 0.22%. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose 1.06% to close at 3.05%, about -25 basis points over the yield on the two-year Treasury bond. The VIX, the fear gauge, closed up 1.3%. Brent crude closed up 3.63%. Spot gold closed up 0.7% at $1,747.98 an ounce. The dollar index remained high, closing at 108.52.

The three major stock indexes opened slightly lower. U.S. new home sales totaled an annualized 511,000, the lowest level since January 2016. The figure fell for the sixth time this year, the slowest increase since early 2016, extending a months-long deterioration in the housing market driven by high borrowing costs and falling demand. The slump in sales in July is the latest example of the housing market being overwhelmed by high house prices and rising borrowing costs, the agency said. Construction has slowed, applications for home purchases have fallen, and more buyers have pulled out of deals. Inventory is growing rapidly as demand slumps, which could put downward pressure on house prices in the coming months. The initial value of the U.S. Markit service industry PMI in August was 44.1, the lowest since May 2020; the initial value of the U.S. Markit manufacturing PMI in August was 51.3, the lowest since July 2020.

Among all JPMorgan clients surveyed, the share of longs rose 6%, while bears rose 5% and neutrals fell 11%. Short positions across all clients reached their highest level since June 13. The percentage of longs in the active client survey rose 22%, while the percentage of shorts was unchanged.

U.S. natural gas daily electricity generation hit a record high in mid-July, and despite relatively high natural gas prices, demand for natural gas used for power generation has been strong in July due to above-normal temperatures, a reduction in coal-fired power generation and a recent increase in natural gas capacity. U.S. Freeport LNG is expected to initially resume production in early to mid-November (previously expected to be mid-to-late October), and will boost production to at least 2 billion cubic feet per day by the end of November. Notably, it will continue to operate at 85% export capacity until March 2023. The three major stock indexes fluctuated lower.

According to CME's "Federal Reserve Watch": the probability of the Fed raising interest rates by 50 basis points by September is 49.5%, and the probability of raising interest rates by 75 basis points is 50.5%; The probability of raising interest rates by 100 basis points is 49.7%, and the probability of accumulative rate hikes of 125 basis points is 38.7%.

Apple fell 0.2%. It is rumored that Apple plans to produce the iPhone 14 in India, shortening the time lag between production in China.

Tesla rose 2.26%, Tesla China refuted rumors that the model is about to change: Tesla China-made models, there are currently no plans to use any new models of batteries including 4680 cells.

Meta fell 1.19%, Meta Platforms, Tiktok registered business entities in Japan. .

Sony fell 1.42% as its PlayStation faced a £5bn class-action lawsuit accused of abusing its dominant market position in breach of UK competition law.

Macy's rose 3.76%, Q2 performance exceeded market expectations, and its 2022 performance guidance was lowered.

Sources from: Investing.com; Reuters.com

Louis Yap

Join me for more Stock Information
Telegram

Malaysia Bursa Channel