Overview: The two recent market developments, push lower in stocks, and higher in the dollar is continuing. Tuesday's gains in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ were unwound on Wednesday and this is helping drag global markets lower. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell for the fourth consecutive session today and many markets (India, Shenzhen, Taiwan, and Korea) fell more than 2% and most others were off more than 1%. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is giving back the past two days' gains. The S&P 500 could gap lower at the open. Benchmark 10-year yields are a little softer but have remained subdued in the face of the dramatic moves in equities. The US yield is little changed near 0.66%. Practically no currency could escape the clutches of the rebounding dollar, though the yen and sterling are little changed. The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is lower for the fifth consecutive session. Gold remains heavy and is approaching the (38.2%) retracement of this year's rally which is found near $1837. Crude oil is consolidating at lower levels. November WTI is in narrow range below $40 a barrel.....MUCH MORE
Asia Pacific
Hong Kong and New Zealand report trade figures. Economists did a good job forecasting New Zealand imports and exports. As expected, the formers rose a little and the latter slipped. The takeaway is that New Zealand reported its first trade deficit (~NZD353 mln), snapping a six-month period of trade surpluses. Economists had a harder time with HK figures. Exports pared their decline to 2.3% year-over-year from 3%, but the bigger miss was in the weakness of imports. These fell 5.7% year-over-year after a 3.4% decline in July. The net result was that HK's trade surplus was halved from the HKD29.8 bln to HKD14.6 bln.
China continues to harass Taiwan with incursions into its air defense zone. The bullying practice has escalated in the past week or so. Beijing's aggressiveness comes as the US some European countries have stepped up their interactions, including high-level visits. It is hard to say that it is having an economic impact but as a potential flashpoint, it is drawing attention....
Yes, Mr. Chandler actually wrote: "Gold remains heavy".
Sometimes I think he drops these little nuggets (see what I did there?) just to make sure we're paying attention.
