Morning Wrap (30.08.2024)

Indices from the Asia-Pacific region recorded a positive session, except for the Australian market, which is trading about 0.25% lower. The Chinese market is up between 2.00-2.20%, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index is gaining 0.25%, and futures on the Singapore SG20cash index are up 0.60%.

Futures on European indices point to a higher opening for the cash session. The DAX and UK100 are trading about 0.15% higher.

Volatility in the forex market is limited in the first part of the day, with most currency changes confined to the +/-0.20% range. USDJPY is down 0.10% to 144.8000.

Core inflation in Tokyo, Japan's capital, accelerated for the fourth consecutive month in August. The core CPI rose by 2.4% in August compared to the previous year, faster than the market's median forecast of 2.2% and the 2.2% increase in July.

Japan's unemployment rate rose to 2.7% in July from 2.5% in June. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate matched economists' median forecast of 2.5%. The ratio of job offers to applicants increased to 1.24 in July from 1.23 in June.

Japan's seasonally adjusted industrial production index saw a monthly increase of 2.8%, below expectations of 3.3% but higher than the -4.2% recorded the previous month. On a year-over-year basis, the index rose by 2.7%.

Overall, the data from Japan were mixed and did not trigger a significant market reaction. On one hand, hawkish inflation data from Tokyo was received, but on the other hand, weaker labor market and industrial data suggest some pressure following the recent interest rate hikes by the BOJ.

Australian retail sales remained unchanged in July after two months of strong results, indicating that large-scale tax cuts have not yet boosted spending. The data support the beginning of interest rate cuts by the RBA. Analysts had expected a 0.3% increase in July.

In an interview with CNN, Kamala Harris promised to take a tougher approach to migration along the southern border of the United States and stated that she would not halt arms supplies to Israel.

The latest election polls from Reuters/Ipsos indicate that Democrat Kamala Harris leads Republican Donald Trump by 45% to 41%. The 4-point lead represents an increase compared to Harris's 1-point lead over the former president in the Reuters/Ipsos poll from late July.

Apple (AAPL.US) is reportedly in talks with Nvidia (NVDA.US) and Microsoft (MSFT.US) regarding an investment in OpenAI, which could value the ChatGPT maker at over $100 billion. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report Apple's interest.

In the cryptocurrency market, we are seeing a deepening of declines. Bitcoin is down 1.00% below $59,000, while Ethereum is down by a similar scale to $2,500.