From Marc to Market:
Overview: Speaker Pelosi's visit to Taiwan has added to the risk-off mood of the capital markets today. Most of the large Asia Pacific equities sold off, with Australia and India notable exceptions. Europe's Stoxx 600 is off for the second consecutive session, and by the most (~0.60%) since mid-July. US futures are also weaker. Benchmark 10-year rates are lower. The 10-year Treasury is off a couple of basis points to below 2.55%, while European yields are mostly 5-6 bp lower, though Italy is lagging. The dollar is trading higher against all the majors but the Japanese yen, where the squeeze continued. The greenback traded at two-month lows near JPY130.40. The Australian dollar has been hit by profit-taking after the central bank hiked 50 bp. Most emerging market currencies are lower too. The Mexican peso's 0.4% decline leads the way.
Gold reached $1780, its best level in nearly a month. It is the fifth consecutive advancing session. After falling 4.8% yesterday, September WTI remains trapped near the lows, mostly below $94.00. US natgaser is off a little more than 2% to offset the gains of the past two sessions. Europe’s benchmark is up 3.5% after a 2.5% gain yesterday. Iron ore is slipping lower for the third declining session. Copper’s six-session advance ended yesterday with a loss of less than 1%. It is off around the same amount today. September wheat is off 2.2%, a little more than it has shed in the past two sessions....
....The US has been haranguing OPEC+ to boost output. OPEC+ holds a video conference tomorrow to set the new production caps after today's technical meeting. Yet, as is well appreciated now, the cartel's output is well below the production limits. In fact, it is estimated to be around 2.8 mln barrels a day below their collective target. However, based on seaborne shipments, Saudi Arabia appears to have boost its exports last month to the most since April 2020. The estimated 7.5 mln barrels per day is almost a million more than it shipped in June. Shipments to China and India appear to have increased while shipments to the US and Japan may have fallen....
....MUCH MORE
