US July ISM services index 54.1 vs 54.5 expectedUS July ADP national employment +44K vs +70K expectedUS S&P Global services final PMI 54.6 vs 53.6 prelimFed’s Kashkari: Would rather get going with small hikes now rather than wait
Markets:
Gold up $169 to $4245US 10-year yields down 1.2 bps to 4.61%WTI crude oil down 69-cents to $75.08S&P 500 down 0.2%, Nasdaq down 0.8%CAD leads, USD lags
Gold was in focus on Wednesday as it held a strong, steady bid from late in Asian trading and through the European close. It’s not clear what kicked off the buying spree but the combo of peace hopes, USD weakening intervention and positive risk appetite no-doubt helped. Technically, the zone near $4000 held for the past five weeks and that created a base that was followed by a squeeze higher today.
In FX, the Canadian dollar got a lift from gold and was the strongest performer but most of the FX moves were middling today, though with a distinct risk-on flavor.
In equities, futures pointed solidly higher but there was selling right from the open as a reshuffle in Google’s top AI ranks led to worries that it was falling behind. After hours, shares of Western Digital and Sandisk were sold following earnings in a move that could hurt the underlying dynamics in the market. On the upside, Nvidia surged to lead the big cap names.
This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.