Stock Market Update

The S&P 500 futures currently trade at fair value. 

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Tuesday on a mostly lower note. South China Morning Post reported that Chinese state-owned computing companies have been told to source more than half of their chips from domestic suppliers. SoftBank announced a $2 bln investment in Intel (INTC). The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to announce a 25-basis point cut to 3.00% when it meets tonight.

• In economic data:
  • Hong Kong's July Unemployment Rate 3.7% (last 3.5%)
  • Australia's August Westpac Consumer Sentiment 5.7% (last 0.6%)
  • New Zealand's Q2 Input PPI 0.6% qtr/qtr (expected 1.4%; last 2.9%) and Output PPI 0.6% qtr/qtr (expected 1.0%; last 2.1%)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei: -0.4%
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng: -0.2%
• China's Shanghai Composite: UNCH
• India's Sensex: +0.5%
• South Korea's Kospi: -0.8%
• Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: -0.7%

Major European indices trade in the green. Yesterday's visit of European leaders to the White House is expected to be followed with a trilateral meeting between leaders from the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine, though a specific time has not been set yet. The British government may implement a tax on home sales over GBP500,000 as it continues seeking new revenue.

• In economic data:
  • Eurozone's June Current Account surplus EUR35.8 bln (expected surplus of EUR33.4 bln; last surplus of EUR32.3 bln)

---Equity Markets---

• STOXX Europe 600: +0.6%
• Germany's DAX: +0.4%
• U.K.'s FTSE 100: +0.3%
• France's CAC 40: +1.0%
• Italy's FTSE MIB: +0.7%
• Spain's IBEX 35: +0.6%