US stocks dipped at the open today following the release of mixed economic data. The US Manufacturing PMI came in lower than expected, further contracting with a reading of 48.0 in August, while the services sector outperformed with a strong 55.2, suggesting resilience in consumer-driven activities. In the housing market, home sales exceeded expectations, rising to 3.95 million in July compared to 3.89 million in June. In the Eurozone, there was a noticeable convergence between factory activities and services, with the HCOB manufacturing PMI decreasing to 45.6 in August while services improved to 53.3. Meanwhile, UK PMI once again surprised on the upside, with both services and manufacturing readings coming in above expectations at 53.3 and 52.5, respectively. After several days of declines, the dollar index rebounded to 101.6, while the 10-year US Treasury yield jumped to 3.86%.
A mixed day of trading was seen in the base metals complex today as markets attempted to surpass the previous day’s resistance levels but struggled to do so. In particular, aluminium retested the $2,500/t resistance level; however, a lack of appetite above this level prompted the metal to remain below it at $2,480/t. Likewise, nickel softened to $16,603/t after hesitating above the $17,000/t level. Copper weakened to $9,130.50/t. Metals markets remain quiet during the summer period, with lower OI and liquidity across the board. We see that markets are deferring their risk appetite into Q4, which is anticipated to bring bounds of macro and fundamental volatility.
The stronger dollar put pressure on precious metals today. Gold softened to $2,479/oz, while silver declined to $29.0/oz, the lowest level since early May. Oil prices edged higher, with WTI and Brent crude trading at $73.0/bbl and $77.2/bbl, respectively.
All price data is from 22.08.2024 as of 17:30
