- The market faces pressure entering a seasonally weak period, with potential increased volatility due to the upcoming US presidential election.
- Asian stocks and US stock futures also fell, impacted by earnings reports from large American firms like Tesla Inc. and Alphabet Inc., which were seen as insufficient to sustain the recent global equity rally.
- European stock futures declined as investors evaluated the disappointing initial results from the “Magnificent Seven” megacap tech companies.
- The Yen strengthened for the third consecutive day ahead of next week’s Bank of Japan meeting.
Asian & European Open:
- The S&P500 and Dow slipped -0.16% and -0.14%, respectively, and the NASDAQ slid -0.06%. The VIX was down -1.74% to 14.65 and has eased from the 16.52 level on Friday, the highest since April amid rising political risks and anxieties.
- Taiwan’s stock market was closed due to Typhoon Gaemi, meaning shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. did not trade.
- Alphabet shares fell after the company indicated that it would take time to see tangible results from its AI investments.
- Tesla shares dropped as much as 7% following a profit miss and a delay in its Robotaxi event to October. Many of Tesla’s suppliers and electric vehicle peers in Asia also saw declines.
- Deutsche Bank AG reported its first quarterly loss in 4 years due to a slowdown in trading and a charge related to a legacy issue at its Postbank retail unit.
- BNP Paribas SA’s profit increased in the second quarter, driven by a surge in equities trading revenue.
- United Parcel Service Inc. experienced its worst drop ever following a profit miss.
Financial Markets Performance:
- The USDIndex had found its footing, firming to 104.25 versus 103.90 on Monday.
- The Yen appreciated beyond 155 for the first time since early June as traders anticipated a potential interest rate hike from the BOJ in the coming months, if not at next week’s meeting. According to a Bloomberg survey, around 30% of BOJ watchers expect a rate hike on July 31, but over 90% believe there is a risk of such a move.
- The NZDUSD dropped at 0.5900 to its lowest level in nearly 3 months as lower bond yields discouraged carry trade investors.
- Oil fell -1.45% to $77.26, though managed to edge up from the $76.40 session low. It is a 4th straight decline from $82.85 Wednesday and the weakest since mid-June. Most of week’s selling was on technicals after penetrating 50- and 100-day MA.
- Gold is up to $2418 per ounce. It was at an all-time closing peak of $2469.08 on July 16 amid expectations for Fed rate cuts, US political risks, and the drop in the US Dollar. Of note, India lowered its import duty on gold to 6% from 15% which should support jewelry manufacturing. India is next only to China in terms of consumer demand.
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Andria Pichidi
Market Analyst
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