By Deepta Bolaky
 @DeeptaGOMarkets

Equity Markets

Wall Street had a late recovery in the final hours of trading and ended in positive territory. The recovery in the bond yields from recent lows helped the stock market to rise on Wednesday:

US sharemarket: Dow Jones Average Industrial +0.1%, S&P 500 +0.1%, and Nasdaq +0.4%.

Investors remain cautious amid trade tensions but are also monitoring the dovish tones set in Asia yesterday. New Zealand, India and Thailand slashed their interest rates further, and some did so in a bigger way and faster than expected.

Market participants are weighing how the Federal Reserve will react to the wave of monetary easing by central banks across the world.

Source: Bloomberg Terminal

Currency Markets

In the FX market, major currencies were mixed against the greenback, but they have also rebounded from lows.

Source: Bloomberg Terminal

The New Zealand dollar was the worst performer after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised the markets with a  50 basis point rate cut instead of a 25 basis point. The local currency plunged by more than 150 pips to 63.80 US cents before recovering slightly to 64.50 US cents.

NZDUSD (Hourly Chart)

Source: GO MT4

Commodities

Oil traders have many factors to digest on both the demand and supply side. Trade wars, global growth concerns and tensions in the Gulf are taking oil prices on a volatile rollercoaster ride. There was news that Iran’s oil was shipped to China in defiance of the US sanctions.

Despite the supply side providing some support, the surprise build in crude oil inventories as per the EIA report renewed the selling pressure on oil prices.

As of writing, WTI and Brent Crude are currently trading in the vicinity of $52 and $57.

UKOUSD and USOUSD (Daily Chart)

Source: GO MT4

A look at the graph below shows that trade tensions and the global demand outlook are weighing heavily on oil prices despite OPEC production cuts.

The gold remains on a rally amid a cocktail of heightened geopolitical tensions and global growth concerns. XAUUSD surged to a 6-year high at $1,509 yesterday.

Source: Bloomberg Terminal

Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin dubbed by many as the “digital gold” has surged above the $12,000 mark at the start of the week probably due to the market angst which is forcing investors to find alternative investment. As of writing, it is currently trading at $11,940.

BTCUSD (Daily Chart)

Source: GO MT4

Key Upcoming Events Ahead

Friday, 09 August 2019 Indicative Index Dividends Dividends are in Points
ASX200	WS30	US500	US2000	NDX100	CAC40	STOXX50
0.115	5.222	0.467	0.082	2.97	0	0.466
ESP35	ITA40	FTSE100	DAX30	HK50	JP225	INDIA50
0	0	0	0	0	0	0