Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Economic Journal - Tuesday, 8/11/2015


(As of 7:20 am PST)

US stocks are pulling back from yesterday’s rally which snapped a seven-day losing streak for US equities. Today’s move happens on the heels of a surprise devaluation of the Chinese Yuan early Tuesday. China’s central bank devalued the highly controlled Yuan by nearly 1.9% Tuesday, for its largest one day loss in nearly  20 years, sending the dollar soaring from 6.21 yuan to 6.325 yuan. Fears of an all-out currency war are rippling through global markets today, as analysts began speculating about what China’s move means for the Fed’s own policies. Many are now calling for the Fed to push their looming rate hike out to 2016, as the strengthening dollar continues to take a toll on US exports and thus GDP growth. Economic data today was mostly positive although not strong enough to pull markets back from the selling pressure. Asian markets finished in the red while European indexes are also headed toward a negative close. Oil is down 3.5% today pressuring energy stocks, while gold is up slightly. Interest rates are down as investors sought the safe-haven of the US treasury.

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