- US July employment trends 117.63 vs 119.38 prior
- Iran nuclear deal is a new downside risk to oil but Goldman Sachs is still bullish
- Nvidia not doing so well as they temper expectations
Markets:
- Gold up $14 to $1788
- WTI crude up $1.58 to $90.59
- US 10-year yields down 8.3 bps to 2.75%
- S&P 500 down 5 points to 4140
- AUD leads, JPY lags
It was a mid-August trading day without any economic data or Fedspeakers so expectations for big market moves were low. And that was basically what happened.
There was some early optimism in equities as meme stocks took off and that led to some broader USD selling. The fall in Treasury yields also added to the dollar slide.
But others saw the rip in meme stocks as an ominous sign for Fed policy and 'financial conditions'. The thinking being that if there's a dash for trash, then the Fed can afford to hike another 75 bps.
For its part, the Fed funds curve didn't move much as some of the non-farm payrolls price action reversed.
AUD/USD was particularly strong throughout the day despite Apple warning about supply delays due to changing Taiwan policies. AUD is often a proxy for China but it didn't act that way today as the market cheered some inbound copper M&A.
