Daily Digest: Friday 20th September
USA
Traders continued to price in Wednesday’s Fed rate policy pivot through the end of the week. The FOMC voted to abandon their higher-for-longer stance, cutting the US bank rate in an aggressive 50 basis point move. Through Friday, the S&P 500 ($SPX) consolidated at the 5,702.55 level, falling 11.09 points (0.19%) on the session, with the index now trading just 31 points off its all time highs. Similarly, the Nasdaq 100 ($NDX) fell 48.34 points (0.24%) to 19,791.49. The Dow ($INDU) was the only of the major indexes to close higher rising 38.17 points (0.091%) to 42,063.36, the index trading just short of its all time highs at its intraday peak of 42,138.
Europe
UK retail sales data for the month of August was the headline macroeconomic data print out of Europe, and it seems UK consumers managed to find the sunshine last month. Retail sales rose by 1%, 0.7 percentage points above analyst expectations marking a second month of growth, a positive indicator of the wider health of the economy. Weather aside, conditions for consumer spending are improving as interest rates fall, inflation eases, and wage adjustments hit accounts, while seasonal trends also exert some influence over spending habits. Despite a positive retail sales data print, the UK’s FTSE 100 (FTSE) erased all of Thursday’s gains, falling 98.73 points (1.19%) to 8,229.99 with prices rejected at the 8,328 level.
Rest of the World
In the third consecutive session of major central bank monetary policy decisions, the Bank of Japan took centre stage. The BOJ’s monetary policy committee voted to hold interest rates within their current 0-0.25% floating range, in line with analyst expectations. During trading, the Nikkei 225 (¥N225) rose 568.58 points (1.53%) to 37,723.91, extending Thursday’s gains, while in China, the Shanghai Composite Index (¥SSE) edged 0.79 points (0.029%) higher to 2,736.81.
Sources:
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/world-indices/
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/commodities
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/indices/ftse-100
https://www.binance.com/en-GB/price/bitcoin
https://www.binance.com/en-GB/price/ethereum
https://qontigo.com/index/sxxp/
Stock Market Activity Today & Latest Stock Market Trends | Nasdaq
https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/#market-cap
https://www.forexfactory.com
Definitions:
YoY - Year on Year, or, Year over Year
MoM - Month on Month, or, Month over Month
QoQ - Quarter on Quarter, or, Quarter over Quarter
ECB - European Central Bank
BOJ - Bank of Japan
Fed - Federal Reserve
BOE - Bank of England
SNB - Swiss National Bank
DOJ - Department of Justice