Asia Morning Sep 25

Asia Morning: U.S. Stocks Stabilize

On Thursday, U.S. stocks closed modestly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 52 points (+0.20%) to 26815, the S&P 500 added 9 points (+0.30%) to 3246, and the Nasdaq 100 was up 63 points (+0.58%) to 10896.

Dow Jones Industrial Average Index: Daily Chart

Sources: GAIN Capital, TradingView

Meanwhile, market sentiment was capped by weak labor market data. U.S. official data showed that Initial Jobless Claims unexpectedly rose to 870,000 for the week ended September 19 (840,000 expected) and Continuing Claims declined to 12.58 million (12.28 million expected).

Utilities (+1.17%), Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (+1.12%) and Food, Beverage & Tobacco (+0.88%) sectors performed the best. Darden Restaurants (DRI +8.12%), Goldman Sachs (GS +4.83%) and Freeport-McMoRan (FCX +4.13%) were top gainers, while CarMax (KMX -11.00%) and Accenture (ACN -7.04%) were top losers.

Approximately 54% (58% in the prior session) of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average and 8% (21% in the prior session) were trading above their 20-day moving average.

Meanwhile, U.S. New Home Sales spiked to an annualized rate of 1.011 million units in August (890,000 units expected).

European stocks had a down day. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 1.02%, Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.29%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 1.30%, and France's CAC 40 was down 0.83%.

U.S. Treasury prices advanced, as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield ticked down to 0.665%.

Spot gold marked a day-low of $1,848 an ounce before closing at $1,867, up $4.00 on day and halting a three-day decline.

U.S. WTI crude oil futures (November) rose 1.0% to $40.31 a barrel.

On the forex front, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index eased 0.1% on day to 94.33, after reaching a two-month high.

EUR/USD gained 0.1% to 1.1675, halting a four-day decline. The Germany IFO Business Climate Index climbed to 93.4 in September (93.8 expected) from 92.5 in August and Expectations Index rose to 97.7 (98.0 expected) from 97.2.

GBP/USD rebounded 0.3% to 1.2755, snapping a four-day losing streak. The U.K. recorded 6,634 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the most in a single day, according to Public Health England.

USD/JPY edged up 0.1% to 105.43, up for a fourth straight session.

Commodity-linked currencies were mixed against the greenback. AUD/USD fell 0.3% to 0.7056, posting a five-day decline, NZD/USD gained 0.1% to 0.6552, while USD/CAD dropped 0.3% to 1.3349.

From time to time, StoneX Financial Pty Ltd (“we”, “our”) website may contain links to other sites and/or resources provided by third parties. These links and/or resources are provided for your information only and we have no control over the contents of those materials, and in no way endorse their content. Any analysis, opinion, commentary or research-based material on our website is for information and educational purposes only and is not, in any circumstances, intended to be an offer, recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell. You should always seek independent advice as to your suitability to speculate in any related markets and your ability to assume the associated risks, if you are at all unsure. No representation or warranty is made, express or implied, that the materials on our website are complete or accurate. We are not under any obligation to update any such material.

As such, we (and/or our associated companies) will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage incurred by you or any third party arising out of, or in connection with, any use of the information on our website (other than with regards to any duty or liability that we are unable to limit or exclude by law or under the applicable regulatory system) and any such liability is hereby expressly disclaimed.

City Index is a trading name of StoneX Financial Pty Ltd.

The material provided herein is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.

While every care has been taken in preparing this material, we do not provide any representation or warranty (express or implied) with respect to its completeness or accuracy. This is not an invitation or an offer to invest nor is it a recommendation to buy or sell investments.

StoneX recommends you to seek independent financial and legal advice before making any financial investment decision. Trading CFDs and FX on margin carries a higher level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. The possibility exists that you could lose more than your initial investment further CFD investors do not own or have any rights to the underlying assets.

It is important you consider our Financial Services Guide and Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) available at www.cityindex.com/en-au/terms-and-policies/, before deciding to acquire or hold our products. As a part of our market risk management, we may take the opposite side of your trade. Our Target Market Determination (TMD) is also available at www.cityindex.com/en-au/terms-and-policies/.

StoneX Financial Pty Ltd, Suite 28.01, 264 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 (ACN 141 774 727, AFSL 345646) is the CFD issuer and our products are traded off exchange.