General Daily Market Recap – September 2, 2024

Traders in the US and Canada enjoyed the Labor Day holiday on Monday, but that didn’t stop global markets from making big moves!

Crude oil reversed course as it dipped over the weekend, but eventually pulled higher to close in the green.

See which stocks pushed the rest of the major asset classes:

Titles:

• Chinese official Manufacturing PMI fell further in contraction to 49.1 in August from 49.4, while the non-manufacturing PMI rose slightly to 50.3 from 50.2 in July
• OPEC+ confirmed plans to increase production by 180,000 bpd from October despite loss of Libyan output
• Australia’s Melbourne Institute Inflation Indicator fell 0.1% m/m in August after rising 0.4% m/m in July
• ANZ-Indeed Australian job ads fell a further 2.1% m/m after a 2.7% decline in July
• Australia’s the company’s operating profits fell 5.3% qoq in Q2 vs. an expected 0.6% rise, down from 2.5% previously
• Australian building approvals rose 10.4% m/m in July (vs. 2.4% expected, -6.4% previously)
• Australian commodity prices fell 5.2% y/y in August, the previous reading fell from -3.0% to -4.2%
• China’s Caixin Manufacturing PMI for August, it made a surprise jump into expansion territory, reaching 50.4 from 49.8 in July.
• Swiss Retail rose 2.7% y/y in July versus an expected 0.2% decline, the previous reading fell from -2.2% to -2.6%
• Swiss manufacturing PMI rose from 43.5 to 49.0 in August versus the forecast of 43.7
• Spanish manufacturing PMI fell from 51.0 to 50.5 from August’s forecast of 51.4
• Markets in the US and Canada were closed for the Labor Day holiday
• Libya’s Sarir, Messla and Nafoura oil fields have been instructed to resume operations after a political deadlock
• EIA data showed U.S. oil consumption slowed in June to the lowest seasonal levels since the 2020 pandemic.
• New Zealand overseas trade index in Q2 2024 slowed to 2.1% from 5.1% previously, estimated at 2.6% q/q
• BRC UK retail sales monitor rose 0.3% to 0.8% y/y in August

Broad Market Price Action:

Dollar Index, Gold, S&P 500, Oil, US 10 Year Yield, Bitcoin Overlay Chart by TradingView

Crude oil bears reacted quickly to the weekend news from OPEC+ confirming they will raise production in October, sending the energy commodity lower as markets opened. It didn’t help that China’s official manufacturing PMI numbers, also out over the weekend, failed to impress.

Bitcoin also got off to a rough start as it crashed into the $57,500 area early on before gradually recovering to its opening price around $59,000 throughout the day.

Meanwhile, gold prices fell on the observation of China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI, which came in better than expected and reflected industrial expansion. The precious metal spent most of the day trading below its record highs, while crude managed to bottom out and pull higher as session traders in London reached their desks.

However, the commodity fell once again after news that Libyan oil fields were instructed to resume production and the EIA reported that June oil consumption fell to the lowest seasonal level since 2020.

Markets in the US and Canada were closed for the Labor Day holiday, which translated into reduced volatility for stocks and dollar pairs during market hours in New York.

Currency Market Behavior: US Dollar vs. Majors:

USD Overlay vs. Major Currencies Chart by TradingView

USD/JPY got off to a good start as the pair still appeared to be reeling from the fallout from Friday’s post-core PCE rally. However, the pair retreated for most of the Asian trading session before finally rallying during market hours in London.

Most major pairs moved broadly sideways at the start, with the exception of NZD/USD and AUD/USD, which appeared to be hamstrung by China’s downbeat official PMI readings and net negative economic updates from Australia.

USD/CHF edged lower after upbeat Swiss retail sales and manufacturing PMI data, but dollar strength took over. The US currency held on to gains against the yen, loonie and kiwi by the end of the day, while losing ground to the pound sterling, euro and Australian dollar.

Future potential catalysts for the economic calendar:

• Swiss CPI at 6:30 GMT
• Swiss GDP at 7:00 GMT
• US ISM Manufacturing PMI at 14:00 GMT
• New Zealand’s global dairy trade auction is coming up
• Testimony from ECB official and German Bundesbank Governor Nagel at 16:45 GMT

We have several potential market movers today, starting with Switzerland’s CPI reading, which could have a strong impact on NBS policy expectations.

After that, all eyes and ears are likely to be on Uncle Sam August ISM manufacturing PMI as traders look for clues ahead of the highly anticipated NFP release this week.

And if you trade multiple major currency pairs at the same time, be aware of currency correlations to avoid accidentally overexposing your trading account to higher-than-expected risks.