How’dy USA

In US economic data, the IHS-Markit 'flash' manufacturing purchasing managers' index lifted to 53.6 in August from 50.9 in July. The services index rose to 54.8 from 50. The composite index hit the highest level since February 2019. Existing home sales rose by a record 24.7% in July to a 5.86 million annual rate (survey: 5.38 million).

US share markets lifted on Friday with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq at record highs. Economic data encouraged investors. A 5.15% lift in shares in Apple drove markets higher. The Dow Jones index rose by 191 points or 0.7%. The S&P500 index lifted 0.3% to record highs. And the Nasdaq index gained 47 points or 0.4% to a record closing high. Over the week the Dow was flat; the S&P 500 rose 0.7% (fourth straight gain - longest winning streak this year) and the Nasdaq rose by 2.7%.

US treasury bond prices were mixed on Friday. Next week US Treasury will auction $148 billion of treasuries. US 2-year yields rose less than a point to 0.147% and US 10-year yields were down by less than a point to near 0.64%. For the week US 2-year yields were flat and US 10-year yields fell by 6 points.

Bonjour Europe

European share markets closed lower on Friday in response to downbeat economic data. The IHS Markit composite purchasing managers index for Germany fell from 55.3 to 53.7 in July. But the travel & leisure index posted the biggest sectoral gain, up by 3.1%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.2%. The German Dax index fell by 0.5%. And the UK FTSE index was lower by 0.2%. In London trade, shares in Rio Tinto rose by 0.5% but shares in BHP were down by 0.4%.

Hello World!

Major currencies were weaker against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from highs near US$1.1880 to lows near US$1.1755 and was near US$1.1795 at the US close. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US72.05 cents to lows near US71.35 cents and was near US71.60 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen eased from near 105.45 yen per US dollar to JPY106.05 and was near JPY105.80 at the US close.

Global oil prices fell near 1.2% on Friday. Firmer US economic data balanced softer German data. Reuters noted that India's crude oil imports fell in July to their lowest level since March 2010, while US motorists drove 13% fewer miles in June than a year earlier. The Brent crude price fell by US55 cents or 1.2% to US$44.35 a barrel. And the US Nymex price lost US48 cents or 1.1% to US$42.34 a barrel. Over the week Brent fell US45 cents or 1% but Nymex rose US33 cents or 0.8%.

Base metal prices fell up to 1.6% on the London Metal Exchange on Friday with copper down the most. But nickel bucked the trend, up 0.3%. Over the week metals rose 0.6-3.6% but tin fell 0.3%.

The gold futures price rose by US50 cents or less than 0.1% to US$1,947.00 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,939 an ounce at the US close. Over the week gold fell US$2.80 or 0.1%. Iron ore fell by US$1.75 or 1.4% to US$126.65 a tonne. For the week, iron ore rose US$4.90 or 4%.

G’day Australia In Australia, the Household Impacts of COVID-19 survey for June is issued. In the US, the Chicago Federal Reserve National Activity index is released.