Stock Market Update

The S&P 500 futures currently trade 43 points above fair value. 

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a mixed note, though Japan's Nikkei (+1.2%) and South Korea's Kospi (+1.4%) reached fresh record highs while Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-1.4%) and China's Shanghai Composite (-1.2%) hit new highs for the year before reversing. New Zealand's Q2 GDP report showed a bigger-than-expected contraction while Australia lost jobs in August. Westpac expects the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to make two rate cuts before the end of the year. Hong Kong Monetary Authority followed the FOMC rate cut with a 25-basis point cut of its own, as expected.

• In economic data:
  • Japan's July Core Machinery Orders -4.6% m/m (expected -1.8%; last 3.0%); 4.9% yr/yr (expected 5.4%; last 7.6%)
  • Australia's August Employment Change -5,400 (expected 21,200; last 26,500) and full Employment Change -40,900 (last 63,600). August Unemployment Rate 4.2%, as expected (last 4.2%) and August Participation Rate 66.8% (expected 67.0%; last 67.0%)
  • New Zealand's Q2 GDP -0.9% qtr/qtr (expected -0.3%; last 0.9%); -0.6% yr/yr (expected 0.0%; last -0.6%)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei: +0.7%
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng: -1.4% 
• China's Shanghai Composite: -1.2%
• India's Sensex: +0.4%
• South Korea's Kospi: +1.4%
• Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: -0.7%

Major European indices trade in the green. The Bank of England voted 7-2 in favor of keeping its bank rate at 4.00%. Elsewhere, Norges Bank lowered its policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.00%, as expected, and forecast one rate cut per year over the next three years. President Trump will meet with British Prime Minister Starmer today. Germany's debt office confirmed that it plans to sell an additional EUR15 bln worth of debt in Q4.

• In economic data:
  • Eurozone's July Current Account surplus EUR27.7 bln (expected surplus of EUR34.6 bln; last surplus of EUR35.8 bln). July Construction Output 0.48% m/m (last -0.66%)
  • Swiss August trade surplus CHF4.009 bln (expected CHF5.220 bln; last CHF4.619 bln)

---Equity Markets---

• STOXX Europe 600: +0.8%
• Germany's DAX: +1.1%
• U.K.'s FTSE 100: +0.1%
• France's CAC 40: +1.0%
• Italy's FTSE MIB: +0.4%
• Spain's IBEX 35: -0.1%