Equity Markets Rise, VIX at 12 Handle After ECB Rate Hike and US Economic Resilience
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Equities closed higher with VIX at the 12 handle after ECB’s dovish rate hike and US economic data still being resilient. ARM IPO had a positive start although Adobe slid in post-market after reporting earnings. EURUSD broke below key support at 1.0635 but closed just above, while CAD and AUD outperformed. China’s RRR cut boosted oil further and could set a positive tone for today, but activity data and MLF announcement on watch ahead of Quad Witching option expiries in the US session.
US Equities
In a broad-based rally, both the S&P500 and the Nasdaq 100 added 0.8% while small-cap stocks outperformed with a 1.4% gain in the Russell 2000 Index. Chip designer ARM soared 13.4% to USD63.59 on the first day of trading after the IPO. Moderna gained 3.9% after releasing a statement guiding higher revenue through 2028 on new drugs. Cruise liners and energy stocks were some of the top performers for the session. Adobe slid nearly 2% in extended-hour trading on a softer-than-anticipated AI boost to revenue outlook.
Fixed income
Treasuries had a volatile session. The market was initially supported by the decline in yields across the pond in Europe following a 25bp ECB hike but signaling a pause in the statement. The hotter-than-expected US retail sales and PPI brought sellers back to the market. The Treasury announced USD13 billion 20-year bond and USD15 billion 10-year TIP auctions for next week. The 2-year yield climbed back above 5% to settle at 5.01%, up 4bps. The 10-year yield rose 4bps to 4.29%.
China/HK Equities
The Hang Seng Index managed to close 0.2% higher, thanks to gains in coal miners and oil producers, while the CSI300 was flat in a choppy but subdued session. A surprise reduction in the Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR) by the People's Bank of China (PBoC) after the market closed in the evening led to higher futures trading overnight and may set a more positive tone for today's trading.
FX
The US dollar rose to fresh 6-month highs with EURUSD breaking below 1.07 and the May lows of 1.0635 after ECB’s dovish rate hike. A close below 1.0635 will expose the 1.05 handle. GBPUSD also slumped to test the 1.24 handle. USDCNH rose slightly to 7.29 as PBoC cut RRR but AUDUSD attempted to break above 0.6450 after a hot labor report. CAD was the G10 outperformer as oil prices continued to surge, and EURCAD – as hinted in the FX Watch – slumped below 1.44.
Commodities
Fresh highs in crude oil with WTI jumping over $90/barrel and Brent approaching $94. ECB signaling a pause, hot US economic data as well as China RRR cut supported the demand outlook while supply constraints linger. China’s activity data will be a key focus in the day ahead, and whether the RRR cut is followed by another MLF cut. Iron ore continued to climb higher breaking above $120, the highest in five months on the back of strong production from China steel mills with a seasonal pickup in construction. Meanwhile, uranium futures are surging higher driven by supply tensions as nuclear reactor capacity growth increases.
Macro:
- The ECB raised interest rates 25bp, taking the deposit rate to 4.0%, however the hike was dovish as it came with hints of the end of tightening cycle even though President Lagarde stayed short of saying that ECB is at peak rates. 2023 inflation was upgraded to 5.6% from 5.4%, 2024 (in-fitting with source reporting by Reuters) raised to 3.2% from 3.0% and 2025 lowered to 2.1% from 2.2%, but still ultimately seen just above target. Growth projections for 2023-25 were lowered across the board.
- The PBoC cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 25bps effective Friday, September 15, 2023, bringing the weighted average RRR across banks to 7.4% and increasing loanable funds by over RMB500 billion. There is RMB400 billion in medium-term lending facility loans maturing today.
- US retail sales for August came in firmer than expected although July’s print was revised lower. Headline up 0.6% MoM (exp 0.2%, prev 0.5%) as gasoline station sales surged to 5.2% from 0.1% in July. The control metric also posted a surprise gain of 0.1% despite expectations for a 0.1% decline, although the prior was revised down to 0.7% from 1.0%. US PPI meanwhile rose 0.7% MoM in August, above the expected and prior 0.4%, marking the largest increase since June 2022 and heavily driven by a 10.5% increase in the energy component. Weekly jobless claims rose to 220k from 217k, suggesting a still tight labor market.
Macro events
Among the Chinese activity data scheduled for release today, the consensus forecasts a 3.9% increase in industrial production in August, up from 3.7% in July, reflecting stronger manufacturing PMI data. Retail sales are expected to grow by 3.0% Y/Y, boosted by auto sales and catering, surpassing July's 2.5%. While the front-loading of local government bond issuance in August would have supported infrastructure construction, a combination of a high base from the previous year and continued weakness in property construction may limit fixed asset investment growth for August. This likely contributed to the Bloomberg consensus projection of a year-to-date fixed asset investment slowdown to 3.3% Y/Y from 3.4%. Other key events scheduled include US industrial production (Aug) exp 0.1% MoM vs. 1.0% prev, UoM sentiment (Sep P) exp 69.0 vs. 69.5 prev.
Company events
Adobe reported Q3 of USD4.89 billion, in line with street consensus and adjusted EPS of USD4.09 beating estimates slightly. Q4 profit guidance of USD4.10 to 4.15 per share surpassed consensus USD4.06 while sale guidance of USD4.98 billion to 5.03 billion was in line. The initial reaction was mild disappointment on the tepid sales outlook.
