- Over the weekend, investors reacted to Biden's decision to drop out of the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States. Anonymous sources say that all 50 Democratic US state chairmen will now support Kamala Harris.
- The opening of the session on APAC markets brought relatively dynamic declines in the US dollar. However, the scale of these movements has now been completely erased.
- The People's Bank of China cut interest rates to stimulate the Chinese economy. This is the first reduction since August 2023. The one-year as well as the 5-year lending rates were cut by 10 basis points.
- Moreover, the 7-day repo rate was also cut by 10 bps, as was the collateral for medium-term borrowing (MLF).
- Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region mostly started the week on the downside after Friday's selling pressure on Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei lost 1.25%, with indexes from mainland China losing more than 1%. The Hang Seng, however, is slightly better behaved, gaining 0.5%. European stock index futures, however, are pointing to a higher open in trading.
- Nvidia is preparing a version of its new flagship AI chip for the Chinese market, RTRS reported.
- Today, Verizon Communications will present its quarterly results before the start of the Wall Street session.
- In the broad FX market, the Japanese yen is currently performing best. Elevated declines are seen on Antipodean currencies.
- The commodities market is dominated by increases at the beginning of the week. Gold gains 0.25%, Natgas adds 1.5%, and WTI oil prices rise 0.34%.
- Cryptocurrencies are subject to little downward pressure at the start of the week, although Bitcoin broke above $68,000 over the weekend.