Closing Report 02.09.2021

US jobless claims at its lowest since march 2020

 

AMERICAN MARKETS MID DAY

US Major stock markets are evolving in a positive territory after jobless claims in the US for the week August 28 decline by more-than-expected 14,000 and the US trade deficit decreased to $70.1 billion in July. On the data front this week, the NAR reported pending home sales in the country decreased by 1.8% in July while ISM report showed that US manufacturing activity expanded in August topping analyst expectations, however, IHS Markit revealed that despite increasing demand the growth rate slow down due to supply and labors force shortages. On business data, Zoom Video Communications shares plummeted following its earnings report as the company predicted a slowdown in future revenue growth as the economy reopens and in-person events return while Apple shares jumped on the company’s news that some Americans will soon be able to store their ID and driver’s license on the Apple Wallet app on iPhones and Apple Watches.

EUROPEAN MARKETS CLOSING

European markets closed higher today and have been pushed up by the reveal of the US employment data that showed its lowest amount of initial jobless claims registered since March 2020. However, Eurozone’s industrial producer prices increased 12.1% in July compared to the same month of the previous year and Eurostat reported that the producer inflation hovered around 2.3%. The European Central Bank also declared that they will keep interest rate unchanged until 2025 and will continue its supportive bond-buying program at least until 2024. On Monday, Destatis reported that annual inflation in Germany grew 3.9% in August, the figure was in line with expectations and marked an increase from the previous month when the inflation rate stood at a 28-year high of 3.8%. Meanwhile, in the Eurozone inflation made a significant jump to reach 3%. On Wednesday, PMI were published showing that Europe’s manufacturing sector slowed in August, while unemployment rate in the area declined to 7.6%.

ASIAN PACIFIC MARKETS CLOSING

Asia-Pacific region closed mixed this Thursday as COVID worries continue while the Bank of Japan said that they could introduce new monetary easing measures if they become necessary, making the NIKKEI 225 rising by 0.33%. On Monday, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry reported that retail sales increased by better than expected 2.4% year on year in July. Tuesday’s data weren’t as optimistic and drove the Asian markets down, with China’s manufacturing sector and Japan’s industrial production index showing both a monthly decline. For the first day of September, PMI drove the markets where Japan signaled a slight improvement in business activity in August and the Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI data marked a conctraction. On the COVID front, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison annouced his country will receive 500,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine from Singapore. Finally, China’s Prseident XI Jinping declared that him and his administration are willing to establish a stock exchange market in Beijing to support the « innovation-driven development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) ».

COMMODITIES & FOREX MARKETS

• West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose by more than 2% on Thursday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+) decided to stick to theirproduction agreement and ignore calls by the United States to put more oil on the global market.
• Commercial crude oil stockpiles in the United States declined by 7.2 million barrels in the week ending August 27, the Energy Information Administration said in its report published on Wednesday. The new figure now stands at 425.4 million barrels, which is around 6% below the five-year average for this period.

Whatsapp fined €225 million by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has been fined a record 225 million euros by the Irish data watchdog for violating EU data privacy rules. The Irish Data Protection Commission said on Thursday that WhatsApp had not sufficiently informed citizens of the European Union about what it was doing with their data. The regulator said WhatsApp did not explain to Europeans how their personal information is collected and used or how WhatsApp shares data with Facebook.
WhatsApp states in a FAQ on its website that it shares phone numbers, transaction data, business interactions, mobile device information, IP addresses, and other information with Facebook. It says it doesn’t share personal conversations, location data, or call logs. The WhatsApp penalty is the Irish regulator’s largest ever for violating Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation. GDPR requires companies to be upfront about how they use customer data.