HONG KONG-Most Asian markets slipped Wednesday as traders trod water ahead of a key speech by Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen this week, while oil suffered fresh losses on persistent glut worries.
Advertisement
S&P 500 e-minis were down 4 points, or 0.18 percent, with 170,776 contracts traded.
Investors also watched oil markets, with USA crude falling more than 2.2% in after the Energy Information Administration said US crude stockpiles rose by 2.5 million barrels.
Oil prices fell Wednesday morning on an unexpected increase in US crude stocks yesterday after gaining this week on new reports that Iran might be willing to participate in an OPEC-led production cap. Yellen’s speech may provide further insight into the timing of the next rate hike. “If they do raise rates in September, that could have a big effect on gold, in the sense that the market would be taken by surprise”.
The buck fell to almost a 3-week low of $1.3272 against the pound sterling this morning, but has since bounced back to around $1.3235.
There is a chance borrowing costs could rise as soon as next month, analysts say, but most bets are on a move just before the end of the year, or in February.
Canadian broker TD Securities suggested, however, that even with a more aggressive United States attitude gold may be able to hold firm above US$1,300.
World markets have struggled to gain traction this week with few catalysts to spur business ahead of Yellen s talk at the annual Jackson Hole symposium of global central bankers. It hit a record high of 5,272.51.
United States durable goods orders jumped 4.4% in July, beating expectations for a 3.4% increase and following a 4.2% decline in June, the Commerce Department revealed.
Economics polled by MarketWatch expect 264,000 people to have applied for unemployment benefits last week, up 2,000 from the week before.
At 9:45 a.m. Eastern, a preliminary reading on the services purchasing managers index for August is due from Markit.
Shares in Guess Inc.(GES) soared 17% on the back of earnings out late Wednesday that beat expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/guess-shares-spike-after-earnings-same-store-sales-beat-estimates-2016-08-24).
Royal Bank of Canada reported slightly higher-than-expected quarterly results after rising oil prices allowed it to set aside less money to cover energy companies’ bad loans.
Medtronic PLC (MDT) inched up 0.4% after affirming its fiscal 2017 outlook.
Advertisement
“The dollar has finally caught a bid”, wrote Kathy Lien, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management, who said in a note that the US unit was likely poised for a stronger recovery that could take it to 102 against the yen.
