Asia Morning August 26

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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Asia Morning: S&P, Nasdaq at Records Again, Dow Eases

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks closed mixed. While both the S&P 500 (+12 points or 0.36% to 3443) and the Nasdaq 100 (+95 points or 0.82% to 11721) closed at record levels again, the Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 60 points (-0.21%) to 28248.


S&P 500 Index: Daily Chart


Sources: GAIN Capital, TradingView


Media (+1.23%), Consumer Services (+1.19%) and Software & Services (+1.18%) sectors performed the best, while Energy (-1.42%), Automobiles & Components (-1.08%) and Utilities (-0.92%) sectors were laggards.

Gap (GPS +10.39%), J.M. Smucker (SJM +6.87%), Amgen (AMGN +5.37%) and Starbucks (SBUX +5.13%) were top gainers. On the other hand, Best Buy (BBY -4.03%), Exxon Mobil (XOM -3.17%) and Phillips 66 (PSX -3.17%) were top losers.

Approximately 61.2% (58.8% in the prior session) of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average and 67.7% (50.9% in the prior session) were trading above their 20-day moving average.

Regarding U.S. economic data, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index dropped to a six-year low of 84.8 in August (93.0 expected). New Home Sales jumped to an annualized rate of 901,000 units in July (790,000 units expected).

Due later today were reports on Durable Goods Orders (July preliminary reading, +4.5% on month expected).

European stocks lacked upward momentum. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.30%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 1.11%, while both Germany's DAX 30 and France's CAC 40 were broadly flat at close.

U.S. government bonds prices eased further, as the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose to 0.693% from 0.649% Monday.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,928 an ounce.

U.S. WTI crude oil futures (September) jumped 1.7% to $43.35 a barrel. Hurricane Laura is expected to reach the Gulf of Mexico later this week and traders are watching closely how oil output there would be disrupted.

On the forex front, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index dropped 0.3% on day to 93.01.

EUR/USD advanced 0.4% to 1.1832. Official data showed that Germany's second quarter GDP was confirmed at -9.7% on quarter (-10.1% expected and previously estimated). On the other hand, the German IFO Business Climate Index rose to 92.6 in August (92.2 expected) from 90.4 in July.

GBP/USD rose 0.6% to 1.3147.

USD/JPY climbed 0.4% to 106.37, up for a second straight session.

NZD/USD gained 0.3% to 0.6546. Official data showed that New Zealand recorded a trade surplus of 282 million New Zealand dollars (293 million New Zealand dollars surplus expected), where exports totaled 4.91 billion New Zealand dollars (as expected).

Other commodity-linked currencies were broadly higher against the greenback, as market sentiment was boosted by progress in U.S.-China phase-one trade deal. AUD/USD rose 0.5% to 0.7193, while USD/CAD slid 0.4% to 1.3168.
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