Originally published by Rivkin Securities
As markets digested the impact of the rate hike in the US, stocks managed to climb throughout the morning but a steady decline started after lunch. Nevertheless, the major indices managed to close modestly up with the Nasdaq 100 the best performer with an 0.88% gain. The final estimate of US 2nd quarter GDP was released which came out unchanged relative to the prior estimate at 4.2%. The Atlanta Fed GDPnow tracker is currently estimating 3.8% GDP growth for the third quarter. Gold prices dropped at around the time of the GDP release and have settled near a one month low of US $1,183 per ounce.
The weakness in the gold price is corresponding to strength in the US dollar which rallied steadily over the past 24 hours to just regain the 95 level. Rising interest rates in the US at the same time most other central banks are standing firm is driving a resurgence in the US dollar. As a result, the Australian dollar has fallen off its recent highs, currently back at US$0.72
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has now been officially sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for his misleading tweet regarding taking the company private. The SEC complaint states that Musk made “multiple materially false statements” in his tweets on August 7 and it is seeking to have Musk barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company. The TSLA share price is down 13% in after-hours trading.
European markets also climbed overnight with the FTSE 100 and DAX indices both closing approximately 0.4% higher. ASX 200 futures are up 28 points this morning.
Data Releases:
- UK Final GDP 6:30pm AEST