DAILY MARKET NEWS

gold-bull

EQUITIES

Asian shares mostly positive today, except for mainland Chinese stocks, China's Shanghai Composite and Singapore’s that retreated -0.36%, and -0.11% respectively. Meanwhile, Nikkei 225 advanced 0.22%, KOSPI index up 0.58%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.08%, and Australia S&P/ASX 200 advanced by 0.87%.

The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high on Tuesday, rebounding 0.23% signalling recovery. Nasdaq Composite clocked its 18th record closing high since early June, added 81.12 points, or 0.73%. The Dow Jones Industrials, which is still about 6% below its February highs, slipped 0.24%.

OIL

Oil prices edged lower the morning of Asian trading hours. Brent crude futures traded to $45.16 a barrel, while U.S. crude at $42.69.

On Monday, Brent closed at $45.46 per barrel, while WTI futures ended at $42.89 per barrel.

CURRENCIES

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.28 after declining from levels above 92.5 earlier.

The risk-sensitive Australian dollar traded near $0.7252, while the kiwi last bought $0.6611.

GOLD

Gold rose more than 1% to be back above the $2,000 level breached earlier this month. Currently trading at $2,001.70 per ounce, while stands around $2,010.50 per ounce for gold futures. Previously closed at $2,000.30 and $2,013.10, respectively.

Silver trading at $27.86, platinum trading at $952.00 and palladium trading at $2,85.00.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Asian equities were mostly firmer on Wednesday after a strong Wall Street session in which the S&P 500 hit an all-time high, rebounding from huge losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Record set by S&P and Nasdaq come after strong earnings growth reported by major U.S. retailers including Walmart, Kohl’s and Home Depot.

Further added to market optimism was data on U.S. homebuilding, that accelerated by the most in nearly 4 years in July. Housing starts increased 22.6%, the biggest gain since October 2016, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.496 million units last month.

Japan’s exports in July declined 19.2% as compared to a year ago, while the country’s core machinery orders fell 7.6% in June from the previous month, according to the country’s Ministry of Finance released Wednesday.

Investors will also likely continue to monitor developments in Australia-China relations. The caution comes Tuesday, after China’s Ministry of Commerce said it is launching an anti-dumping investigation into some wines imported from Australia.

To date, number of confirmed worldwide cases for COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed 22.305 million affecting 213 countries and territories around the world and 2 international conveyances, recording more than 784 thousand fatality globally.