Asia Morning Sep 1

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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Asia Morning: Nasdaq 100 Hit Fresh Record

On Monday, U.S. stocks closed mixed. Nasdaq 100 hit a fresh record high, adding 114 points (+1.0%) to 12110, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 223 points (-0.8%) to 28430 and S&P 500 fell 7 points (+0.2%) to 3500.

Nasdaq 100 daily chart:

Source: Gain Capital, TradingView

Technology Hardware & Equipment (+2.8%), Retailing (+0.68%) and Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences (+0.63%) sectors gained the most, while Energy (-2.2%), Banks (-2.17%) and Materials (-1.49%) sectors were the worst performers.

Approximately 64.2% of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average and 71.7% were trading above their 20-day moving average.

Regarding U.S. economic data, the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Index rose to 8.0 in August (0.0 expected) from -3.0 in July. 

Later today, investors will focus on August ISM Manufacturing PMI (54.5 expected) and construction spending for July (+1.1% on month expected).

European stocks were broadly lower. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 1.3%, Germany's DAX 30 lost 0.7% and France's CAC 40 slid 1.1%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was closed for holiday.

The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell to 0.7048% from 0.7211% Friday.

WTI crude oil futures (October) dropped 0.8% to $42.61 a barrel.

Spot gold edged up 0.2% to $1,967 an ounce.

On the forex front, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index slipped 0.2% to 92.16, posting a fourth straight month of decline.

EUR/USD advanced 0.3% to 1.1939. European Central Bank's Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said "there is no reason to adjust the monetary policy stance" at the moment as incoming economic data were in line with expectations. Later today, the eurozone's CPI data for August (+0.2% on year expected) and jobless rate for July (8.0% expected) will be released.

GBP/USD gained 0.1% to 1.3364.

USD/JPY rebounded 0.5% to 105.89. This morning, official data showed that Japan's jobless rate edged up to 2.9% in July (3.0% expected) from 2.8% in June, while capital spending declined 11.3% on year in the second quarter (-4.0% on year expected).

AUD/USD climbed 0.2% to 0.7380. The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.25% later in the day.

Other commodity-linked currencies were mixed against the greenback. NZD/USD eased 0.1% to 0.6736, while USD/CAD lost 0.4% to 1.3044, the lowest level since January.

China's official Manufacturing PMI slipped 51.0 in August (51.1 expected) from 51.2 in July, while Non-manufacturing PMI rose to 55.2 (54.1 expected) from 54.2.

Related tags: Commodities Indices Forex

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