ASIA:

According to Morgan Stanley analysts, India is likely to be the fastest growing Asian economy by 2022-23. They expect India’s gross domestic product growth to average 7 percent over the period — the strongest among major economies — and contribute 28 percent and 22 percent to growth in Asia and 22 percent, respectively. Much of this optimism stemmed from the decline in commodity prices, particularly oil. With oil/commodity prices down 23-37 percent since the March peak, Morgan Stanley expects macro stability indicators to move back into the comfort zone and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may not need to hike rates aggressively.

The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:

• NIKKEI 225 decreased 180.63 points or -0.65% to 27,819.33

• Shanghai increased 51.65 points or 1.60% to 3,281.67

• Hang Seng increased 471.59 points or 2.40% to 20,082.43

• ASX 200 increased 78.30 points or 1.12% to 7,071.00

• Kospi increased 42.90 points or 1.73% to 2,523.78

• SENSEX increased 515.31 points or 0.88% to 59,332.60

• Nifty50 increased 124.25 points or 0.71% to 17,659.00

The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today:

• AUDUSD increased 0.00357 or 0.50% to 0.71199

• NZDUSD increased 0.00448 or 0.70% to 0.64448

• USDJPY decreased 0.008 or -0.01% to 132.856

• USDCNY increased 0.01696 or 0.25% to 6.73976

Precious Metals:

l Gold decreased 1.21 USD/t oz. or -0.07% to 1,790.92

l Silver decreased 0.177 USD/t. oz or -0.86% to 20.391

Some economic news from last night:

South Korea:

M2 Money supply (Jun) decreased from 8.60% to 7.50%

Australia:

MI Inflation Expectations decreased from 6.3% to 5.9%

New Zealand:

External Migration & Visitors (Jun) increased from 26.30% to 83.50%

Permanent/Long-Term Migration (Jun) decreased from -853 to -896

Singapore:

GDP (YoY) (Q2) increased from 3.8% to 4.4%

GDP (QoQ) (Q2) decreased from 0.8% to -1.0%

No economic news from today:

EUROPE/EMEA:

Hiring in the UK has slowed due to uncertainty about the economy, according to the report. KPMG reported that recruiters are more reserved when hiring new staff. The consultancy added that ongoing skills shortages, a decline in foreign workers and candidates’ reluctance to move jobs have all led to a narrower supply of suitable employees. A jobs report by KPMG and the Confederation of Recruitment and Employment suggests that rising operating costs and uncertainty about the UK’s economic outlook are leading some firms to hold back on recruitment, at least for permanent positions.

The major Europe stock markets had a mixed day:

l CAC 40 increased 21.23 points or 0.33% to 6,544.67

l FTSE 100 decreased 41.20 points or -0.55% to 7,465.91

l DAX 30 decreased 6.42 points or -0.05% to 13,694.51

The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today:

• EURUSD increased 0.00265 or 0.26% to 1.03282

• GBPUSD increased 0.00063 or 0.05% to 1.22190

• USDCHF decreased 0.00223 or -0.24% to 0.94007

Some economic news from Europe today:

UK:

RICS House Price Balance (Jul) decreased from 65% to 63%

Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Aug) increased from 43.3 to 44.7

Germany:

Germany Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Aug) decreased from 47.48 to 46.45

Gemran Current Account Balance n.s.a (Jun) increased from -0.4B to 16.2B

Italy:

Italy Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Aug) increased from 38.80 to 39.81

France:

France Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (Aug) increased from 42.53 to 47.14

Spain:

Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI (MoM) (Aug) increased from 40.61 to 41.91

US/AMERICAS:

The producer price index declined 0.5% in July, primarily due to a decrease in energy prices. This is the first-time wholesale prices have declined in two years, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Annually, PPI rose 9.8% and marks the lowest YoY increase since October of last year. Energy costs fell 9% and composed 80% of the total decline of goods prices. Core PPI advanced 0.2% in July and 5.8% YoY.

Weekly jobless claims in the US came in at 262,000 for the week ending on August 6. This marks a 14,000 increase from the week prior but is still below most estimates. Continuing claims rose as well after adding 8,000 to a total of 1.43 million.

US Market Closings:

• Dow advanced 27.88 points or 0.08% to 33,337.39
• S&P 500 declined 2.9 points or -0.07% to 4,207.34
• Nasdaq declined 74.89 points or -0.58% to 12,779.91
• Russell 2000 advanced 6.01 points or 0.31% to 1,975.26

Canada Market Closings:

• TSX Composite advanced 105.94 points or 0.53% to 1,206.65
• TSX 60 advanced 6.41 points or 0.53% to 1,206.65

Brazil Market Closing:

• Bovespa declined 517.82 points or -0.47% to 109,717.94

ENERGY:

The oil markets had a green day today:

l Crude Oil increased 2.581 USD/BBL or 2.81% to 94.511

l Brent increased 2.144 USD/BBL or 2.20% to 99.544

l Natural gas increased 0.6048 USD/MMBtu or 7.37% to 8.8068

l Gasoline increased 0.0141 USD/GAL or 0.46% to 3.0844

l Heating oil increased 0.0795 USD/GAL or 2.33% to 3.4898

The above data was collected around 13:29 EST on Thursday

l Top commodity gainers: Natural Gas (7.37%), Palm Oil(3.72%), Oat (4.44%) and Bitumen (6.06%)

l Top commodity losers: Cocoa (-0.08%), HRC Steel (-0.85%), Feeder Cattle (-0.33%) and Silver (-0.86%)

The above data was collected around 13:40 EST on Thursday.

BONDS:

Japan 0.189%(+2.4bp), US 2’s 3.22% (+0.003%), US 10’s 2.8603% (+7.43bps); US 30’s 3.14% (+0.097%), Bunds 0.9780% (+9.2bp), France 1.5440% (+8.8bp), Italy 3.0280% (+3.4bp), Turkey 16.03% (-4bp), Greece 3.229% (+3.2bp), Portugal 2.005% (+9.1bp); Spain 2.102% (+10bp) and UK Gilts 2.0650% (+11.3bp).

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