16/08/2023
Today’s Announcements & News
Asia
On Wednesday, Asia-Pacific markets experienced a decline following a similar pattern to Wall Street, where U.S. bank stocks fell.
Shares of major U.S. banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America saw drops of 2% and 3% in response to Fitch’s warning that it might downgrade the credit ratings of several banks, including JPMorgan Chase. Last week, Moody’s also lowered the ratings of 10 U.S. banks and placed other major institutions on a watchlist for potential downgrades.
In the Asian market, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined by 0.82%, and the broader Topix index was down by 0.68%. Despite this, business sentiment in Japan improved in July, according to the Reuters Tankan survey.
South Korea’s Kospi index experienced a 1.03% decrease as it resumed trading after a public holiday, while the tech-heavy Kosdaq saw a larger loss of 1.18%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped by 1.20%, heading for its third day of losses in four days.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index pointed to a weaker opening, standing at 18,360 compared to the HSI’s previous close of 18,581.11. Investors are keenly watching China’s release of its house prices for July, particularly due to the recent challenges faced by the country’s real estate sector.
US
Tuesday night saw stock futures remaining close to flat after a recent downward trend in August.
Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed a mere addition of 2 points, indicating a nearly unchanged situation. Similarly, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also demonstrated little variation.
After the closing bell, tax preparation company H&R Block and Mediterranean food chain Cava both saw gains of over 6% and 9%, respectively, due to stronger-than-anticipated quarterly reports.
These developments come in the aftermath of a negative trading session on Wall Street, where all three primary indices closed down by over 1% on Tuesday. As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average halted a three-day streak of gains. Simultaneously, the S&P 500 concluded the session below its 50-day moving average, a potential indicator of a forthcoming downturn.
Financial stocks, including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, experienced declines following Fitch’s warning that it could potentially lower the credit ratings of multiple banks. This situation follows Moody’s decision last week to downgrade the ratings of 10 banks while placing other institutions under watch.
Regional bank shares were also affected by comments made by Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari regarding possible further capital regulation. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) concluded the session with a 3.3% decline.
Commodity
On Tuesday, oil prices experienced a decline of more than 1% due to sluggish economic data from China and concerns that Beijing’s unexpected reduction in key policy rates may not be substantial enough to revitalize the country’s struggling post-pandemic recovery.
Brent crude futures dropped by $1.31, or 1.5%, reaching $84.90 per barrel around 10:56 a.m EDT (1456 GMT). Similarly, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell by $1.44, or 1.8%, settling at $81.07.
Conversely, gold prices remained relatively stable on Tuesday, benefiting from a decrease in bond yields and the value of the dollar. However, the anticipation that the Federal Reserve might maintain higher interest rates for an extended period following robust U.S. data kept the precious metal near a six-week low.
Around 11:14 a.m. EDT (1514 GMT), spot gold was flat at $1,907.60 per ounce after touching its lowest point since June 29 at $1,895.50 earlier in the session.
The above analysis is only for the views of market researchers and is for reference only and is not regarded as a specific investment suggestion.