Market Overview
Key Points:
• Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 229.684 million with over 4.710 million official deaths
• New Zealand has 410 active cases of coronavirus with 22 new cases yesterday. Meanwhile, the Australian State of New South Wales reported 935 new cases and 4 deaths yesterday with Victoria reporting 567 new cases
• NZ third quarter consumer confidence dips to 102.7 from 107.1
• China construction company Evergrande defaults on loan obligations sparking fears of a downturn in the Chinese economy
• RBNZ Hawkesby said this morning that monetary and government spending policies have supported a strong recovery in spending
• Nasdaq and Dow are down over 1.5% this morning while the S&P tests the 100 day moving average
• Iron Ore prices have dipped to 104 per ton this morning, the early July 2020 low
Major Announcements last week:
- US CPI for August 0.3% vs 0.4% rise or 5.3% y/y
- Chinese Retail Sales higher at 3.2% y/y after 2.8% predicted
- NZ GDP second quarter releases at 2.8% vs 1.1% expected
- Australian Unemployment Rate drops to 4.5% in August from July’s 4.6%
- US Retail Sales for August 0.7% vs predictions of -0.7%