ASIA:

Shares of Didi plunged more than 7% in US pre-market trade on Friday after officials from seven Chinese government departments visited the ride-hailing giant’s offices to conduct a cybersecurity review. The ride-hailing giant was forced to stop signing up new users and its app was also removed from Chinese app stores. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) alleged that Didi had illegally collected users’ data.

The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:

• NIKKEI 225 decreased 276.01 points or -0.98% to 28,003.08
• Shanghai decreased 25.29 points or -0.71% to 3,539.30
• Hang Seng increased 8.41 or 0.03% to 28,004.68
• ASX 200 increased 12.20 points or 0.17% to 7,348.10
• Kospi decreased 9.31 points or -0.28% to 3,276.91
• SENSEX decreased 18.79 points or -0.04% to 53,140.06
• Nifty50 decreased 0.80 points or -0.01% to 15,923.40

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD decreased 0.00058 or -0.08% to 0.74146
• NZDUSD increased 0.0017 or 0.24% to 0.70184
• USDJPY increased 0.34 or 0.31% to 110.13
• USDCNY increased 0.01331 or 0.21% to 6.47628

Precious Metals:

• Gold decreased 13.44 USD/t oz. or -0.73% to 1,815.75
• Silver decreased 0.591 USD/t. oz or -2.24% to 25.734

Some economic news from last night:

China:

China Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Jul) increased from 73.16 to 74.07

Japan:

BoJ Interest Rate Decision remain the same at -0.10%

Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Jul) increased from 38.28 to 40.93

New Zealand:

Business NZ PMI (Jun) increased from 58.6 to 60.7

CPI (QoQ) (Q2) increased from 0.8% to 1.3%

CPI (YoY) (Q2) increased from 1.5% to 3.3%

RBNZ Offshore Holdings (Jun) increased from 44.20% to 45.10%

Singapore:

Non-Oil Exports (YoY) (Jun) increased from 8.60% to 15.90%

Non-Oil Exports (MoM) (Jun) increased from -0.20% to 6.00%

Trade Balance decreased from 6.908B to 4.609B

Some economic news from today:

India:

Bank Loan Growth increased from 5.8% to 6.1%

Deposit Growth decreased from 10.3% to 9.8%

FX Reserves, USD increased from 610.01B to 611.90B

Indonesia:

Motorbike Sales (YoY) (Jul) decreased from 1,065.70% to 155.10%

EUROPE/EMEA:

The European Central Bank (ECB) has officially launched its digital euro project with a two-year investigation into key issues regarding the design, distribution and use of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). This will involve “focus groups, prototyping and conceptual work” and examine a possible functional design based on users’ needs, potential use cases for a digital euro, the changes to the European Union’s legislative framework a CBDC would require and the possible impact on the market and the overall economy”. The two-year investigation phase “will not prejudge any future decision on the possible issuance of a digital euro, which will come only later. In any event, a digital euro would complement cash, not replace it,” the ECB adds.

The major European stock markets had a negative day:

• CAC 40 decreased 33.28 points or -0.51% to 6,460.08
• FTSE 100 decreased 3.93 points or -0.06% to 7,008.09
• DAX 30 decreased 89.35 points or -0.57% to 15,540.31

The major European currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD decreased 0.00032 or -0.03% to 1.18071
• GBPUSD decreased 0.00444 or -0.32% to 1.37820
• USDCHF increased 0.00163 or 0.18% to 0.91954

Some economic news from Europe today:

UK:

Car Registration (YoY) (Jun) decreased from 674.1% to 28.0%

Car Registration (MoM) (Jun) increased from 10.7% to 18.8%

Italy:

Italian Car Registration (YoY) (Jun) decreased from 43.0% to 12.6%

Italian Car Registration (MoM) (Jun) increased from -1.6% to 4.7%

Italian Trade Balance (May) decreased from 5.871B to 5.642B

Italian Trade Balance EU (May) decreased from 1.01B to 0.86B

Germany:

German Car Registration (MoM) (Jun) increased from 0.4% to 18.9%

German Car Registration (YoY) (Jun) decreased from 37.2% to 24.5%

France:

French Car Registration (YoY) (Jun) decreased from 46.4% to -14.7%

French Car Registration (MoM) (Jun) increased from 0.4% to 41.5%

Spain:

Spanish Trade Balance increased from -1.30B to 140.10B

Euro Zone:

Core CPI (MoM) (Jun) increased from 0.2% to 0.3%

Core CPI (YoY) (Jun) decreased from 1.0% to 0.9%

CPI (MoM) (Jun) remain the same at 0.3%

CPI (YoY) (Jun) decreased from 2.0% to 1.9%

CPI ex Tobacco (YoY) (Jun) remain the same at 1.9%

CPI ex Tobacco (MoM) (Jun) remain the same at 0.3%

CPI, n.s.a increased from 107.42 to 107.70

HICP ex Energy & Food (YoY) (Jun) remain the same ta 0.9%

HICP ex Energy and Food (MoM) (Jun) remain the same at 0.2%

Trade Balance (May) decreased from 15.2B to 7.5B

US/AMERICAS:

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen anticipates “several more months of rapid inflation”. Her warning is in line with the Federal Reserve’s recent statement that inflation is expected to rise in the coming months before taper off. “So I’m not saying that this is a one-month phenomenon. But I think over the medium term, we’ll see inflation decline back toward normal levels. But, of course, we have to keep a careful eye on it,” Yellen voiced. The CPI increased 5.4% in June, marking the fastest pace in over a decade. Excluding energy and food, the index would have rose 4.5% which is the fastest pace in nearly three decades. Goods and services spiked 7.3%, which marked another high in recent years, while housing prices climbed 15%. However, Yellen warned the public not to compare rising inflation or housing prices to the financial crisis of 2008. “It’s a very different phenomenon. But I do worry about affordability and the pressures that higher housing prices will create for families that are first-time homebuyers or have less income,” she stated.

Cuba has agreed to temporarily lift prohibitions on travelers importing food, medicine, and self-care products into the country after one of the largest protests took place in recent years. Thousands of Cubans took to the streets to protest poor living conditions and demanding basic civil liberties under their current Communist regime. Over 100 protestors were detained or reported missing, but President Díaz-Canel denies that his government used excessive force. In fact the Cuban government is blaming their economic hardship on US trade sanctions that they say have destroyed their supply chain. President Joe Biden spoke favorably of the protestors, “We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime.”

US Market Closings:

• Dow declined 299.17 points or -0.86% to 34,687.85
• S&P 500 declined 32.87 points or -0.75% yo 4,327.16
• Nasdaq declined 115.9 points or -0.8% to 14,427.24
• Russell 2000 declined 27.06 points or -1.24% to 2,163.24

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite declined 198.18 points or -0.98% to 19,985.54
• TSX 60 declined 10.77 points or -0.89% to 1,202.43

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa declined 1,507.62 points or -1.18% to 125,960.26

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a green day today:

• Crude Oil increased 0.36 USD/BBL or 0.50% to 72.0100
• Brent increased 0.28 USD/BBL or 0.38% to 73.7500
• Natural gas increased 0.045 USD/MMBtu or 1.25% to 3.6590
• Gasoline increased 0.0104 USD/GAL or 0.46% to 2.2607
• Heating oil increased 0.0081 USD/GAL or 0.38% to 2.1207

The above data was collected around 12:45 EST on Friday

• Top commodity gainers: Wheat (2.86%), Lumber (12.08%), Steel (8.08%) and Nickel (2.35%)
• Top commodity losers: Palladium (-3.50%), Orange Juice (-4.51%), Platinum (-2.76%), and Silver (-2.24%)

The above data was collected around 12:50 EST on Friday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.021%(+1bp), US 2’s 0.2255%(-0.00%), US 10’s 1.3070%(+0.64bps); US 30’s 1.9374%(+0.01%), Bunds -0.3530% (-2.2bp), France 0.0160% (-2.9bp), Italy 0.7172% (-1.08bp), Turkey 16.67% (-3bp), Greece 0.679% (-1bp), Portugal 0.266% (-2bp); Spain 0.362% (+5.2bp) and UK Gilts 0.626% (-3.9bp).