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At Wednesday's stock market close, the Dow Jones (US30) index increased by 0.54%, while the S&P500 (US500) index added 1.10%. The Nasdaq Technology Index (US100) closed positive by 1.59% yesterday. Stocks were boosted by weaker-than-expected economic news from the US and Europe on business activity, reinforcing speculation that the Fed and ECB may hold off on raising interest rates.

Shares of major technology companies rose ahead of Nvidia's quarterly results. On Wednesday, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and an encouraging outlook as the race to adopt artificial intelligence continues to drive demand for its chips. The stock price rose more than 9% in after-hours trading.

The US Central Bank's annual symposium will begin today in Jackson Hole in the United States. Once a year, FOMC officials gather for a summer symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to exchange views on monetary policy and economic trends. While the event is mainly academic in nature, it has been used by Fed leaders over the years to signal future monetary policy plans. Investors will focus on whether the Fed chief believes further policy tightening will be needed to reduce inflation or whether sufficient progress has been made to keep rates unchanged.

According to Statistics Canada's preliminary estimate released on Wednesday, retail sales rose just 0.4% last month. With goods consumption and the broader economy showing some signs of slowing, policymakers may have an opportunity to retake a wait-and-see stance and keep the overnight rate at 5% at their next meeting on September 6.

Equity markets in Europe traded higher yesterday. German DAX (DE40) rose by 0.15%, French CAC 40 (FR40) gained 0.08% on Wednesday, Spanish IBEX 35 (ES35) added 0.05%, British FTSE 100 (UK100) closed positive 0.68%. Eurozone business activity data disappointed investors. Despite an uptick in the manufacturing sector (42.7→43.7), the service sector fell back into contractionary territory (50.9→48.3). The manufacturing sector has been contracting, with new orders and backlogs declining. While goods sector inflation is falling due to lower costs and weak demand, services sector inflation is still high due to higher labor costs despite weaker demand. The hawks on the ECB board will be inclined to push for another rate hike as wage pressures push up services inflation.

Asian markets were mostly up yesterday. Japan's Nikkei 225 (JP225) added 0.48% for the day, China's FTSE China A50 (CHA50) decreased by 1.14%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng (HK50) was up 0.31% on Wednesday, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (AU200) was positive 0.38% on the day.

BRICS leaders agreed at a summit to expand membership. China is keen on expanding BRICS amid growing competition with the US, but the group's other major power, India, does not share this interest. South African officials say several countries have submitted formal applications to join BRICS, which accounts for 40% of the world's population and a quarter of the global economy. They include Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Argentina, and Iran. On his second overseas trip this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the bloc's expansion would "pool our strength and our wisdom to make global governance more just and equitable." The summit underscored differences with the West over the war in Ukraine and the support Russia is receiving from its BRICS partners at a time of global isolation. South Africa, China, and India did not condemn Russia's invasion, while Brazil refused to join Western countries in sending weapons to Ukraine or imposing sanctions on Moscow.

• S&P 500 (F)(US500) 4,436.01 +48.46 (+1.10%)
• Dow Jones (US30) 34,472.98 +184.15 (+0.54%)
• DAX (DE40)  15,728.41 +22.79 (+0.15%)
• FTSE 100 (UK100) 7,320.53 +49.77 (+0.68%)
• USD Index  103.59 +0.29 (+0.28%)
   

Important events for today:

• Jackson Hole Symposium at 15:00 (GMT+3);
• US Core Durable Goods Orders (m/m) at 15:30 (GMT+3);
• US Initial Jobless Claims (w/w) at 15:30 (GMT+3);
• US Natural Gas Storage (w/w) at 17:30 (GMT+3);
• US FOMC Member Harker Speaks at 19:00 (GMT+3).

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