Morning Report – Monday 10th August

Main Headlines

European stock-index futures rose along with the bulk of Asian equity markets, as investors looked ahead to this week’s expected review of the U.S.-China trade pact and weighed uncertainty over the timing of a stimulus package from Washington. Contracts on the Euro Stoxx 50 and S&P 500 indexes edged up. South Korea and Australia outperformed in the Asian session. Chinese shares advanced as data showed the economy continuing to recover from the pandemic, with consumer inflation accelerating and factory price deflation easing. Hong Kong saw losses, with Tencent Holdings Ltd. continuing to slide in the wake of U.S. pressure. Crude advanced as Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled producer said it expects energy demand to pick up. Gold is trading lower.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicted a deeper depreciation for the Turkish currency and warned that “with August illiquidity ahead of us, risks of another discontinuous move in local assets are rising.”

GBP

Sterling resumed its role as a risk driven currency at the back end of last week and posted its biggest daily fall since June against the dollar, as global market sentiment turned sour after the latest standoff between Washington and Beijing.

EUR

The number of long euro contracts has surged to $26.6 billion. There has never been a larger long, the accumulation of positions has occurred rapidly which historically leads to a reversal.

USD

The U.S. dollar was struggling to keep a rare rally together in early trade this morning as its longest losing streak in a decade left much of the market structurally short of the currency and vulnerable to a squeeze on any upbeat news. The dollar ended lower for the seventh week in a row.

Main Economic Data/Central Banks/Government (All Times BST)

7:00 a.m.: UK Trade Balance
7:00 a.m.: UK Manufacturing Output
7:45 a.m.: France CPI
9:30 a.m.: UK GDP