MARKET SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks edged lower as Treasury yields continued to march higher. A move up in longer-maturity yields came despite oil prices giving up some of their recent gains as oil flows out of the Middle East recover. Gold settled higher. The U.S. dollar strengthened.
MARKET WRAPS EQUITIES
U.S. stocks ended modestly lower after a worrying monthly survey of consumer confidence was offset by a Federal Reserve official cautioning against hasty rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 0.1%.
The Conference Board reported that consumer confidence dropped sharply this month to a low not seen since 2014 due in part to higher prices, particularly for oil and gasoline.
The consumer confidence index fell by 6.7 points to 81.9, much weaker than economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast. Consumers' also had a tepid assessment of current labor market conditions and said they were worried about higher interest rates in the year ahead.
Stocks bounced off their lows for the day when New York Fed President John Williams said the central bank didn't need to rush on hiking rates this year after its quarter-point raise weeks ago, and should instead take time to review additional data. "There is no need for urgency," Williams said.
Stock markets in Asia ended mixed earlier Tuesday.
China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2%, while the Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.4%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.5%.
South Korea's Kospi declined 0.3%.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.6% lower.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index rose 0.3%.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 1.1%.
COMMODITIES
Oil prices fell, as oil output from Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline is coming through faster than anticipated.
Front-month November Brent crude futures fell 2.6% to $102.59 a barrel. The November Brent contract expires Tuesday, with December set to become the front-month contract. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 3.5% to $89.38 a barrel.
Both benchmarks had pared gains Monday of reports that Saudi Arabia resumed loading vessels at the Red Sea port of Yanbu via its East-West pipeline, a key export route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz.
The recovery of the pipeline is proceeding quickly. "The Saudi's East/ West pipeline flows have moved up to 50% of normal - quicker than expected at nearly 3.5 million barrels a day," said BOK Financial.
Precious metals futures ended mixed, with gold settling higher and silver lower.
Front-month Comex gold for October (new front month) delivery rose 0.3% to $4147.70 a troy ounce.
Comex silver fell 0.9% to $60.668 a troy ounce.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Fed's Williams Hints Next Rate Increase Can Wait
A top Federal Reserve official suggested Tuesday that the central bank could wait until December before raising interest rates again, pushing back against market bets on a follow-up increase next month.
The remarks from New York Fed President John Williams carry particular weight because as vice chair of the Fed's rate-setting committee, he has typically sought to reflect the views of the committee's center of gravity rather than stake out his own position.
Inflation remains too high, and another rate increase "late this year" might be appropriate, Williams said. But for now, the Fed can likely take time to review additional data before tightening policy further, he said.
U.S. Consumer Confidence Fell in September Amid Elevated Oil Prices, Inflation Worries, Conference Board Says
Consumer confidence fell sharply in September as higher energy prices and inflation worries soured households' moods, a monthly survey from The Conference Board said.
The research group said its consumer confidence index fell by 6.7 points to 81.9 in September from 88.6 in August. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a higher reading of 89. September's reading was the lowest reading since 2014.
"References to prices, the high cost of goods and services, and oil and gas prices in particular, rose to new heights, reflecting September's surge in fuel costs," said Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist, The Conference Board.
China Offers Subsidies on Some Residential Mortgages
China will offer subsidies on interest costs for eligible first-home mortgages as Beijing attempts to revive home sales and turn around the years-long slump in the property sector.
The government from Oct. 1 will provide 1-percentage-point subsidies on rates for first home buyers who apply for mortgage loans smaller than 1 million yuan, equivalent to $140,000, according to a joint statement Tuesday from the People's Bank of China, the finance ministry and the country's financial regulator.
The subsidy will be eligible for buyers who plan to purchase apartments no larger than 120 square meters and valued less than 1.5 million yuan. The policy will initially run for one year, and individual loans can receive the subsidies for up to five years.
Oura Postpones IPO Over Market Uncertainty
Smart-ring maker Oura said it was delaying its previously announced initial public offering due to market uncertainty.
The San Francisco-based company, which was expected to fetch a valuation well above the $11 billion achieved in a funding round last year, said Tuesday it was postponing its listing "despite strong demand, due to uncertainty in the IPO market."
Oura made its IPO paperwork public earlier this month. It said the issue had attracted strong investor demand, but that the timing wasn't right.
OpenAI Announces Enterprise-Focused 'Dots' AI Agents
OpenAI's annual DevDay event kicked off on Tuesday afternoon with the company introducing its own highly anticipated artificial-intelligence agent during a keynote from CEO Sam Altman.
Dubbed "Dots," Altman described them as "remarkably capable, always on agents built to handle really anything you can think of," before showing one working on website designs and slide decks, and managing users' calendars.
Dots work across a variety of apps including calendars and Slack, and can be interacted with directly through a browser-like interface in ChatGPT. Subscriber who pay for ChatGPT Pro or Business Premium will gain access to a dot today, and will eventually be able to add multiple dots to their workflows.
Expected Major Events for Wednesday 00:00/NZ: Sep ANZ Business Outlook
01:00/JPN: Aug Steel Imports & Exports Statistics
01:00/PHI: Aug External Trade Performance
01:30/AUS: Aug CPI
01:30/AUS: Aug Financial Aggregates, incl Private Sector Credit
01:30/CHN: Sep CFLP China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)
01:30/CHN: Sep CFLP China Non-Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)
01:30/AUS: Aug Building Approvals
01:45/CHN: Sep China Manufacturing PMI
01:45/CHN: Sep China Services PMI
02:00/SIN: Aug Money Supply
02:00/SIN: Aug Bank Loans
03:00/SKA: Aug New deposit, loan rates
04:30/JPN: Aug Preliminary Report on Petroleum Statistics
05:00/JPN: Aug Housing Starts
05:00/JPN: Aug Construction Orders
06:30/AUS: Aug International Reserves & Foreign Currency Liquidity
07:00/THA: Aug Industrial Production Index
07:00/MAL: Aug Money Supply
08:15/HK: Aug Money Supply
09:59/PHI: Aug Money Supply (M3)
09:59/HK: Aug Tourism figures
21:45/NZ: Aug Building Consents Issued
23:00/AUS: Sep Australia Manufacturing PMI
23:50/JPN: 3Q Tankan Survey of Enterprises in Japan
00:00/SKA: Sep Trade data
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
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