It was an active day in the Asian timezone, beginning with a reemergence of supply chain worries with reports that a ship had run aground in the Suez Canal. Markets have fresh memories of the EverGiven doing so in 2021 and not being freed for six days. This time around though the ship, a Singaporean flagged oil tanker, was re-floated quickly and normal navigation through the bottleneck resumed.

USD/JPY continued its rise through the session, hitting a high above 139.60 before stalling a little. So far we have not had the usual round of jawboning from Japanese officials. This has been along the lines that rapid moves are unwelcome, but, so far nothing.

Cable continued its slide to a low under 1.1580.

US dollar strength was evident elsewhere. CAD, EUR, AUD, NZD, CHF are all down on the session against the USD. The yield on 2-year US Treasuries rose to its highest since 2007, providing a nice tailwind to the USD.

The data focus was again on China. Today we had the second of the monthly manufacturing PMIs, that from Caixin-Markit. Like the official manufacturing PMI for August released yesterday this one, too, fell into contraction. Headwinds for China include the very familiar by now:

  • COVID outbreaks and associated restrictions

  • the deeply troubled contracting property sector

  • power shortages in southwestern China

I’d noted earlier in the session commentary from Capital Economics that 41 cities in China, responsible for 32% of the country’s GDP, are currently in the midst of outbreaks. This is the highest number since April and raises the risk of further lockdowns and associated economic damage.

While on China, the People’s Bank of China today once again set the onshore yuan at a mid-rate stronger (for the yuan, i.e. lower for USD/CNY) than the estimate. For the seventh day in succession.

NASDAQ futures dropped during on Globex. News hit in (US) after hours that the US government had halted exports, immediately, of advanced products from Nvidia to China and Russia. Nvdia stock took a hit, weighing on NQ.

Nasdaq:

ndx 01 September 2022 wrap