Summary:
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Equities recover from early weakness
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Trade headlines still dominate the markets
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Oil rises strongly for 2nd day
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Crypto markets swoon
US stocks are looking to end a two-day losing streak this afternoon after the major benchmarks closed lower on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Markets were trading further in the red before a bit of a recovery this morning aided by positive noises on the trade front, with reports that China has invited US negotiators for more talks, and while it seems like we’re just getting a rinse and repeat of the same news flow, it does clearly continue to impact the markets. However some of these gains were handed back after the South China Morning post reported that a high-profile signing ceremony of the Hong Kong bill would anger China and the US markets are trading a little lower on the European close.
Recent moves in stock markets seem to be almost solely driven by the latest developments in US-Sino talks with equities getting a lift this morning after another headline crossed the wires. It’s quite remarkable that stock markets in not only New York and Shanghai, but also London and Frankfurt have such a heightened level of sensitivity in the near term to any news on this front, with quotes from the respective sides having a near instant impact in the markets.
Elsewhere crude markets are looking to post a second successive day of gains with prices moving firmly higher. There’s been little concrete news to support the push but after a couple of heavy down days early on in the week the recent price action will no doubt be pleasing for oil bulls who will have one eye on next month’s OPEC meeting.
It’s been a bad day for crypto markets with largescale selling seen across the space. The biggest loser is Litecoin, with the market falling back to the 50 level and down by 9% on the day. Bitcoin has seen an acceleration in its decline after moving firmly below the 8000 handle and while it is sitting on a daily drop of around 6% the long-term support region around 7200 is now just a couple hundred dollars away.
