GLOBAL MARKETS DJIA 33291.78 322.55 0.98% Nasdaq 12639.27 207.74 1.67% S&P 500 4199.12 58.35 1.41% FTSE 100 7479.74 8.23 0.11% Nikkei Stock 28771.75 292.74 1.03% Hang Seng 20124.06 155.68 0.78% Kospi 2491.82 14.56 0.59% SGX Nifty* 17685.00 97 0.55% *Sept contract USD/JPY 136.75-76 +0.19% Range 136.79 136.42 EUR/USD 0.9967-70 -0.07% Range 0.9979 0.9963 CBOT Wheat Sept $7.696 per bushel Spot Gold $1,756.30/oz -0.1% Nymex Crude (NY) $93.14 -$1.75 U.S. STOCKS
Stocks rose Thursday as investors reviewed a batch of economic data and awaited the annual gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Investors are placing bets on how Mr. Powell's tone will come off and whether it indicates big rate increases are still to come. The S&P 500 gained 58.35 points, or 1.4%, to 4199.12, while the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index added 207.74 points, or 1.7%, to 12639.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 322.55 points, or 1%, to close at 33291.78.
ASIAN STOCKS
Japanese stocks were higher, led by gains in machinery and electronics stocks, as concerns have eased somewhat about costs of business operations. Komatsu gained 2.3% and Tokyo Electron Ltd. was 2.6% higher. Meanwhile, financial and energy stocks were underperforming after falls in 10-year U.S. Treasury yields and crude-oil prices overnight. Dai-ichi Life Holdings was down 1.3% and Inpex was 0.6% lower. Investors were focusing on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium later in the day. The Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.7% at 28682.08.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi rose 0.5% to 2490.66 in early trade, led by construction and electronics stocks. Investors were awaiting U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium later in the day for clues about the Fed's pace of rate increases. Korea Electric Power gained 1.4% after its subsidiary Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power secured a deal to supply turbine buildings and other structures to Russia's Rosatom for a nuclear power plant project in Egypt. Memory-chip maker SK Hynix added 1.9%. Index heavyweight Samsung Electronics was 1.0% higher.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.8% to 20123.08 amid optimism over U.S.-China talks about U.S.-listed Chinese companies. Some compromise may have been reached in discussions between the U.S and China to avoid the delisting of Chinese firms from U.S. exchanges, Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG, said in an email. Best performers on HSI include China Overseas Land & Investment adding 5.1%, Wuxi Biologics rising 3.9%, and Longfor Group up 3.0%. Meanwhile, Shenzhou International Group slipped 6.7% and Ping An Insurance was down 1.2%. The Hang Seng Tech Index was up 1.5% at 4334.23.
Chinese shares were mixed in early trade, as investors continue to monitor developments relating to the country's ongoing drought and heatwave. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was flat at 3246.08, the Shenzhen Composite rose 0.2% to 2158.62 and the ChiNext Price Index inched 0.1% lower at 2664.95. Markets would likely keep a close eye on developments related to economic measures, after authorities unveiled a policy package worth over CNY1 trillion to support growth. The latest measures may not necessarily mark a major turning point, Commerzbank analysts said in a research report. "Sentiment remains fragile and a change in the Covid policy could in fact have a bigger effect on the business environment and outlook," they noted.
FOREX
Asian currencies were mixed against USD in the morning Asian session, and may range-trade ahead of Fed Chair Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium later today. The market's focus remains on the symposium and on U.S. economic data due later in the global day for more market-moving information, said MUFG Bank's senior currency analyst Jeff Ng in a research report. Some range-trading in Asia ex-Japan currencies is expected, unless there are event-related risk surprises, the analyst added. USD/KRW was little changed at 1,334.55 while USD/SGD gained 0.1% to 1.3906 and AUD/USD fell 0.3% to 0.6959.
METALS
Gold edged lower in the early Asian session ahead of Fed Chair Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium later today. Investors want to see if Powell locks the Fed in for another massive 75bp rate increase in September, but he will likely stick to the data-dependency script and leave it up to the U.S. inflation report due out on Sept. 13, said Oanda's senior market analyst Edward Moya in an email. The precious metal will likely consolidate between the $1,750/oz and $1,780/oz zone in the run-up to Powell's speech, Moya added. Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,756.30/oz.
OIL SUMMARY
Oil futures were higher in the early Asian session, buoyed by prospects that OPEC+ may reduce output. Oil prices may remain strong as OPEC+ signaled that it may cut production if prices continue to decline, said Tina Teng, markets analyst at CMC Markets, in an email. OPEC and its allies, together known as OPEC+, plan to hold their next monthly meeting on Sept. 5. Oil prices may also have garnered support from the recent API data that showed a bigger-than-expected drop of 5.6 million barrels in U.S. crude-oil inventories last week. Front-month WTI crude oil futures were up 0.6% at $93.05/bbl and Brent crude oil futures were 0.6% higher at $99.91/bbl.
TOP HEADLINES Fed Officials Ready to Raise Rates Again, but Unclear on How Much China's New Economic Efforts Fall Short, Economists Say U.S. GDP Fell Less Than Previously Thought in Second Quarter OPEC President Is Open to Cutting Oil Production SEC Requires Disclosures on Executive Pay Versus Company Performance SpaceX to Connect U.S. Cellphones to Starlink Satellites in T-Mobile Deal Twitter Ordered to Provide Subset of Elon Musk's Request for Data Google Maps, Searches to Identify Clinics That Provide Abortions Wesfarmers Annual Profit Falls But Signals Strong Recovery Deal Nears to Allow Audit Inspection of U.S.-Listed Chinese Companies Tsingtao Brewery Shares Rise After Posting Higher First-Half Profit Ford Trucks in $1.7 Billion Verdict Weren't Subject to Tougher Safety Rules Biden Describes Trump's Governing Philosophy as 'Like Semi-Fascism' California Approves Rules to Ban Gasoline-Powered Cars by 2035 Pakistan Minister Sees Climate Change Link to 'Monster Monsoon' Power Outage in Southern Ukraine Raises Tensions Over Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-25-22 2315ET
