Market Update

China announced that manufacturing activity expanded in September as the world’s second-largest economy continued to show signs of recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. The official PMI manufacturing index for September came in at 51.5 compared to 51.0 in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. PMI readings above 50 …

Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that crude oil inventories declined in the United States last week, while gasoline inventories rose. Crude inventories fell by 831 thousand barrels in the week ending September 25 to about 494.4 million barrels, while analysts’ expectations indicated an increase of 1.6 million …

Data showed that German retail sales rose much more than expected in August, reviving hopes that household spending in Europe’s largest economy will lead to a strong recovery in Q3 from the coronavirus shock. Data from the Federal Statistics Office revealed that retail sales jumped 3.1% on a monthly basis …

The final reading of Q2 UK GDP came in at -19.8% QoQ vs. -20.4% expected and -20.4% last while on an annualized basis the figure stood at -21.5% vs. -21.7% expected and -21.7% seen previously. The Current Account numbers for Q2 came in at GBP-2.8 B versus GBP-0.4 B expected …

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has set the yuan reference rate at 6.8101 versus Tuesday’s 6.8171.

EUR/USD1.1600 919m EUR amount1.1650 1.0bn1.1725 640mUSD/JPY104.50 754m USD amount104.85 563m105.00 469m105.10 1.1bn105.62 444m105.70 450m106.00 445mGBP/USD1.2800 244m GBPNZD/USD0.6580 348m NZD amount0.6675 240m

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) closed lower on Tuesday, after two consecutive rises, amid concerns about the rising number of COVID-19 cases and ahead of the first of three presidential debates. Three debates between incumbent President Donald Trump and the Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden will be held before …

After rising for the first session of the week, oil prices returned to losses on Tuesday. The Brent crude futures for November delivery dropped by $1.40, or 3.3%, and closed at $41.03 per barrel. Meanwhile, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for November delivery closed lower by $1.31, …

Gold prices increased on Tuesday for the second consecutive session, restoring the $1,900 per ounce mark. The yellow metal gains were supported by the US Dollar (USD) decline. Gold futures for December delivery gained $20, or 1.1%, and settled at the level of $1,903.20 per ounce.

President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, John Williams, said on Tuesday that recovery from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has been better than expected, expecting the economy to return to its pre-pandemic levels in about three years. “We want to get back to maximum employment as soon as …