- The first session on European markets this week brought mixed sentiment among investors. Germany's DAX ended trading 0.06% lower, while France's CAC40 added 0.18%. Representing a broad cross-section, the Euro Stoxx 50 index lost 0.26% at the end of the day.
- On Wall Street, declines dominated. The technology Nasdaq is losing 0.97% at this point, while the S&P500 is down 0.41%. Against the backdrop of general sentiment, the Russell 2000 stands out, adding 0.15%.
- Investor attention today is focused on the results of PDD Holdings (PDD.US), whose shares are losing more than 30% following the release of quarterly results. Other Chinese e-commerce companies, including Alibaba (BABA.US) and JD.com (JD.US), are also losing ground in reaction to the results.
- At the beginning of the week, the EURUSD continued its gains bolstered by Jerome Powell's speech at the economic symposium in Jackson Hole. However, in the second part of the day we see a recovery on the dollar and a clear drop below the 1.12 level.
- The dollar is gaining in the broad market, including against the yen or Antipodean currencies.
- The stronger dollar did not prevent gold from going out today in the vicinity of $2525 per ounce, although the increases were later reduced. However, the highest closing ever at $2518 per ounce is still possible.
- Oil is up more than 3% today in the face of the escalating situation in the Middle East and the decision of the eastern Libyan government to halt oil production and exports from its territory, which is linked to the conflict with the Tripoli-based government. Libya is responsible for oil production of more than 1 million barrels per day.
- Copper hit its highest in a month today, scoring a gain of nearly 2%, tied to the promise of a US interest rate cut, dollar weakness against the yuan and news of rebounding copper demand from Chinese energy companies.
- Durable goods orders rose 9.9% m/m, well above expectations, but linked to one-time large aircraft orders. Core orders fell 0.2% m/m, which was a stronger-than-expected decline
- Germany's Ifo index fell to 86.6, but this was a smaller decline than expectations
- Declines dominate the crypto market. Bitcoin is currently losing 1.4% and is trading near $63,500. At the same time, Ethereum is losing 2.6%.
