Research Report – 10 th September 2020

September 11, 2020

Britain’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic continued as shops reopened and manufacturing activity resumed, but the economy has grown slowly. GDP now stands at 18.6% which is a little higher than the previous low ebb in April. However, it remains 11.7% below the levels indicated in February 2020 before the infection transmission to Britain.

European stock markets were opened mixed on Friday, with investors having an eye on a comparatively optimistic ECB and new weakened statistics of the Wall Street. The pan-European Stoxx 600 declined by 0.91% to 367.12. In the Cash Markets, the CAC 40 was trading lower by 0.38% at 5028.43 and the DAX declined by 0.26% to 13,202. Euro Stoxx 50 declined 0.36% to 3,312.09, at the time of writing.

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were trading mixed in early trade session today as the drop in the movement of the regional technology stock sector stateside. Mainland Chinese stocks were also mixed by the afternoon, with the shanghai compostite inched down 0.21% whereas the Shenzhen Component rose moderately. Hong Kong’s Hang Sang Index edged up 0.42%.

Meanwhile, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.35% to 23,207.5, in the afternoon trading session. While the Topix index inched up 0.47% to 1620.75. South Korea’s Kospi inched down 0.65% to 315.45. And Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.74% to 5849.0.

Overnight in the United States, The Dow Futures is up by 0.56% to 27,753 while Nasdaq 100 futures declined by 2.12% and S&P 500 futures decreased 1.76% to 3,33987 respectively.

In corporate news, Shares of major Mier Rio Tinto dipped around 0.8% after the firm announced its chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques, who led the mining giant since 2016, will be stepping down by mutual agreement

On the Data front, GBP Manufacturing Production that measures the change in the overall inflation-adjusted value of output produced by manufacturers released today at 2:00 local time today. The actual rate is 6.3%, which is higher than the 5.05 forecast. EUR ECB President Lagarde Speak is scheduled at 5:30 local time today. From the USA, USD Core CPI Mom for the month of August will be released later in the day.

In the currency markets, the U.S. Dollar Index edged down 0.12% to 92.882, after an earlier high of 93.352. The USD/JPY gained 0.04% to 106.16. The AUD/USD was up by 0.37% to 0.7284 and the NZD/USD pair edged up by 0.24% to 0.6665. The USD/CNY pair inched down to 6.8833. The GBP/USD pair inched up 0.0027% to 1.2827, at the time of writing.

In the Commodity Markets, Gold prices fell on Friday as the U.S. dollar rebounded, spot Gold was down 0.8% at $1,938.53 per ounce by 0308 GMT, after hitting its best level since September 2 at $1,965.94 on Thursday. Gold has gained 0.4% this week. U.S. gold futures fell 0.8% to $1,948. Elsewhere, silver dropped 1.2% to $26.61 per ounce and palladium lost 0.7% to $2,278.86. Platinum eased 0.4% to $922.43, but was heading for its best week since week-ending August 7, up 3%.

Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, U.S. crude futures traded 0.3% lower at $37.19 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract fell 0.4% to $39.89. Both major benchmarks are down around 6.5% for the week and headed for a second week of declines.

In the Cryptocurrency Markets, BTC/USD inched down 0.49% and was trading at $10,283.6. Ethereum edged down 1.34% to $363.15. Litecoin fell 0.80 to $48.157, and Dash inched down 0.43% to 75.21. Ripple edged down 0.17% to 0.2353, at the time of writing.