20 Jul

China’s Central Bank left the interest rate unchanged. Australia’s labor market remains resilient

July 20, 2023

By JustMarkets

As of Wednesday’s stock market close, the Dow Jones Index (US30) increased by 0.31%, while the S&P 500 Index (US500) added 0.24%. The NASDAQ Technology Index (US100) closed positive by 0.03% yesterday.

Investment bank Credit Suisse raised its year-end growth target for the S&P 500 (US500) from 4050 to 4700 points as the risk of a near-term recession in the US declines and forecasts larger earnings for major technology companies. The Index is now at 4545 points.

Netflix’s (NFLX) quarterly report disappointed investors – revenue in the second quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. Tesla (TSLA) reported quarterly gross profit in line with Wall Street estimates. NFLX and NFLX prices were little changed on the report’s release. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has signaled that he will cut electric car prices again, even as his all-out price war with rivals cuts into the company’s own margins.

Equity markets in Europe traded flat on Wednesday. Germany’s DAX (DE40) decreased by 0.10%, France’s CAC 40 (FR40) added 0.11% yesterday, Spain’s IBEX 35 (ES35) closed negative by 0.08%, and the UK’s FTSE 100 (UK100) closed up by 1.80%.

Bank of England Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden said he sees room to increase the pace of the central bank’s balance sheet reduction by accelerating the so-called quantitative tightening program. Ramsden said the Bank of England would reduce its holdings of bonds and corporate loans by a total of 100 billion pounds by October. The Bank of England is currently reducing its securities portfolio at a rate of about £80 billion a year as assets mature, and it is actively selling debt. It has about £802 billion of debt left.

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Oil prices fell on Wednesday even as government data showed US crude stockpiles last week fell by only a third of expected levels. Gasoline consumption also came in below expectations for mid-July.

Asian markets traded flat yesterday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 (JP225) gained 1.24% for the day, China’s FTSE China A50 (CHA50) fell by 0.13%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HK50) declined by 0.33%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (AU200) ended the day 0.55% positive.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said yesterday that there is still some way to go before the central bank’s 2% inflation target is reached in a sustainable and stable manner, dampening speculation of a hawkish policy shift next week.

In Australia, the unemployment rate remained at 3.5%. The economy added 32,600 jobs over the past month, above the forecast of 15,000. Job growth in June left the employment-to-population ratio at a record high of 64.5%, reflecting resilience in the labor market. This is not good news for the RBA as the RBA’s goal now is to increase unemployment to reduce inflation.

China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged in July at 3.55%. The five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, was also unchanged from the previous reading of 4.2%. BofA Global Research on Thursday cut China’s economic growth forecast for this year to 5.1% from 5.7% due to disappointing gross domestic product (GDP) growth and a lack of response from the People’s Bank of China.

S&P 500 (F)(US500) 4,565.72 +10.74 (+0.24%)

Dow Jones (US30) 35,061.21 +109.28 (+0.31%)

DAX (DE40)  16,108.93 −16.56 (−0.10%)

FTSE 100 (UK100) 7,588.20 +134.51 (+1.80%)

USD Index  100.28 +0.34 (+0.34%)

Important events for today:
  • – Japan Trade Balance (m/m) at 02:50 (GMT+3);
  • – China PBoC Loan Prime Rate at 04:15 (GMT+3);
  • – Australia Unemployment Rate (m/m) at 04:30 (GMT+3);
  • – Switzerland Trade Balance (m/m) at 09:00 (GMT+3);
  • – US Initial Jobless Claims (w/w) at 15:30 (GMT+3);
  • – US Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (m/m) at 15:30 (GMT+3);
  • – US Existing Home Sales (m/m) at 17:00 (GMT+3);
  • – US Natural Gas Storage (w/w) at 17:30 (GMT+3).

By JustMarkets

 

This article reflects a personal opinion and should not be interpreted as an investment advice, and/or offer, and/or a persistent request for carrying out financial transactions, and/or a guarantee, and/or a forecast of future events.


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