Ten Stories Moving the Market

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda gave mixed signals about future interest-rate hikes, falling short of markets’ hawkish expectations; Ueda said the stage for policy setting has shifted and the BOJ wouldn’t rule out any particular policy options in advance of board meetings – Bloomberg. (Why you should care – the comments left the door open for the BOJ to potentially lower rates once more)

China has privately asked Tehran to help rein in Yemen's Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the Iran-backed group's military blitz in the past week - Reuters. (Why you should care – China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil, so an increase of energy shipments from Saudi Arabia due to the appeal would likely weigh on global prices)

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told euro-area finance ministers that energy-price jumps don’t automatically translate into monetary tightening; Lagarde noted the price of energy and its impact on prices has also an impact on other factors, including notably growth and consumption – Bloomberg. (Why you should care – Lagarde’s comments imply another rate hike by the ECB this year is not a guarantee)

Chipmaker SK Hynix's subsidiary Solidigm is considering building a NAND flash memory chip factory in ​the U.S., with upstate New York emerging as a leading candidate – Reuters. (Why you should care – Solidigm was purchased by SK Hynix from Intel in 2020) 

The Bank of England kept its key interest rate unchanged, holding steady at a time when the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank have raised rates; most policymakers saw few signs so far that higher energy costs are spilling over into everyday prices – WSJ. (Why you should care – policymakers warned that if the situation in Iran persists, they may be forced to take more aggressive action)

Amazon said artificial intelligence models should be released only after rigorous testing, weighing in on the debate about the pace of AI development after top labs called for a slowdown following safety lapses – Bloomberg. (Why you should care – the introduction of regulation tends to play out in favor of the incumbent service providers and not the upstarts)

Chinese chipmaker CXMT is preparing to enter the booming flash memory ​chip market dominated by Samsung Electronics and other foreign rivals; The move would also pit the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip specialist against domestic rival YMTC, taking it into one of the semiconductor industry's fastest-growing segment – Reuters. (Why you should care – any purchase of the company’s products is likely to face pushback from foreign governments due to Chinese spying concerns)

The U.S. is expected to delay the announcement of new China tariffs over allegations of trading partners’ excess manufacturing capacity at least until after next week’s planned summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump – Bloomberg. (Why you should care – the White House is likely trying to maintain good will ahead of the upcoming summit)

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was standing by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh after the central bank unanimously voted to raise interest rates; Trump told reporters he encouraged Warsh to support the board’s decision – WSJ. (Why you should care – Trump’s lack of hostility to the Fed chair following the announcement should help to dispel concerns around central bank independence)

Berkshire Hathaway said that Warren Buffett will step down as the conglomerate's chairman ​and will become its chairman emeritus, effective immediately – Reuters. (Why you should care – while Buffett had previously announced he would step down as CEO, this shift places more likely place control in the hands of current CEO Greg Abel)

Pre-Market Levels:

S&P Futures +0.19%, Nasdaq Futures +0.46%, Dow Jones Futures +0.07%, Russell 2000 Futures -0.05%

Europe:

EuroStoxx 50 -0.78%, U.K. FTSE -0.69%, German DAX -0.69%, French CAC -0.68%, Italian MIB -0.93%, Spanish IBEX -0.89%

Asia:

Japan's Nikkei +1.38%, Japan's TOPIX -0.26%, China's Shanghai Composite +0.94%, Hong Kong Hang Seng +0.60%, South Korea's KOSPI +2.66%, Taiwan's TSE +1.97%

Currencies:

Dollar +0.18%, Euro -0.02%, Japanese Yen -1.17%, British Pound +0.04%, Canadian Dollar -0.08%, Swedish Krona -0.33%, Swiss Franc -0.10%

Risk:

VIX -0.97%, Bitcoin +2.41%, Ethereum +2.99%

Growth:

WTI Crude -1.57%, Brent Crude -1.44%, Nat Gas -1.52%, Copper -0.11%

Safety:

Gold +0.38%, Silver +2.06%

Sovereign Bonds:

U.S. 10-Year +1.4bps at 4.961%

U.S. 2-Year +2.8bps at 4.718%

German 10-Year +2.4bps at 3.503%

French 10-Year +6.2bps at 4.508%

U.K. 10-Year +4.9bps at 5.275%

Japan 10-Year +1.2bps at 2.988%

Economic Calendar:

U.K. - Retail Sales for August (2 a.m.)

BoJ’s Ueda (Governor) Speaks (2:30 a.m.)

U.S. - Industrial Production for August (9:15 a.m.)

Fed's Bowman (Board, Vice Chair for Supervision) Speaks (9:30 a.m.)

U.S. - Leading Index for August (10 a.m.)

U.S. - Baker Hughes Rig Count (1 p.m.)

U.S. - CFTC's Commitment of Traders Report (3:30 p.m.)