Finance Update – When More Is Less

Asia – Planes, Missiles & Sanctions

After Washington imposed sanctions on 2 dozen China-based companies supposedly involved in a South China Sea territorial dispute and a U.S spy plane was spotted near the area, China reacted by launching 2 missiles to an isolated area off the Paracel Islands.

Asian markets, however, remained somewhat unphased, the Nikkei essentially remaining the same at -0.03% with the Hang Seng taking the brunt of the day’s news and falling -0.83%.

Europe – Trade Commissioner Resigns

After a day of mostly countering Tuesday’s results – The DAX up 0.98%, the CAC up 0.80% and the FTSE gaining 0.14% Europe’s major news was reserved for Trade commissioner Hogan resigning his post after an Ireland dinner trip that violated Covid-19 restrictions.

The UK auto industry also posted numbers which were simultaneously encouraging and discouraging – producing 51% more cars than it did in June, but 21% less than July of last year.

Americas – A Hurricane Of News

Just days before it is set to hold a 5-to-1 share split Tesla registered a new stock high of $2,166, supported by news of new models going into production in China in early 2021.

As the country braces for a major hurricane set to strike Texas and Louisiana, President Trump may cancel his Republican convention speech as a result with further repercussions quite possible.

The Jackson Hole Summit was officially opened yesterday, but with the eyes of country elsewhere – no major news has emerged from the yearly confab yet.

As the Senate quarrels over a new $500 Million Republican aid bill the Dollar was in a holding pattern when compared to nearly all major currencies – going -0.01% vs the EUR and -0.03% vs the GBP but up 0.04% vs the Yen.

Commodities – Before the Hurricane Strikes

As the Southern U.S braces for Hurricane Laura, Crude oil stockpiles dropped by 4.69 million barrels to 507.8 and Hurricane closures will likely impact that figure further, WTI prices fell 0.13% to 43.42 as result of the news.

Gold is down another 0.8%, currently sitting at $1,937.99, it’s dalliance with levels of $2000 and over seeming like a distant memory.

Corporate – Microsoft has the TikTok Edge

After parent company ByteDance filed a lawsuit against the administration, TikTok remained a much-desired hot potato, but it seems Microsoft has inched ahead in the race to own the app’s U.S based business, with Microsoft’s own stock responding kindly to the news, gaining 2.16%.

Amazon stock rose another 2.85% yesterday, pushing CEO Jeff Bezos, already the richest man on the planet, across the $200 bn net worth threshold.

After reporting a 29% increase in revenue yesterday Salesforce today saw an 18% spike in price going to $254.52 per share not long after U.S trading opened.

Events