Today will be a relatively quiet day in terms of fundamental reports. Japan published some inflation rate reports earlier today: the July inflation rate was -0.3%, which was more or less expected, but core inflation was a bit better than anticipated at -0.2%.
Furthermore, the United Kingdom published two very disappointing retail sales reports for July today. Canada’s retail sales for June were also slightly under the forecast.
Later today there will be a speech by Federal Reserve member Kaplan, though no major announcements are expected at this time.
In other news, Chinese stocks continue to extend their crash today. The government is preparing stricter regulation for online businesses like Alibaba, but also has put forward proposals to regulate sectors that were previously not included in the plans, such as online pharmacies, for example. Thus, all indices on the exchanges in mainland China and Hong Kong have taken a huge dip and fallen to their lowest levels in 2021 so far.
US stock indices will also trade lower today due to the persistent fears over a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, the Federal Reserve has signalled it is getting ready to announce an early tapering of bond purchases, which will also drive stock prices down.
The tech sector is somewhat more resilient to Covid-19-related pessimism. But one company to watch out for today is Facebook, which is likely going to face another lawsuit by the FTC.
Tesla is also in the news today as CEO Elon Musk announced plans to start developing a humanoid robot next year, one that will help deal with manual everyday tasks.
On the commodity market, gas is of interest today. Russia’s Gazprom announced it can begin delivering natural gas via Nord Stream 2 as early as this year. This influx of gas supply is bringing gas prices down very quickly.
Crude oil has also slumped in price due to a combination of a strong US dollar and fears over the demand for oil due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude slid to $66, while the WTI brand dropped to $63 per barrel.
