[Platinum Insights] (8.14.23)

Good morning. 

U.S. stock index futures edged higher as most mega cap growth stocks steadied after a selloff in the previous session, while investors awaited quarterly reports from U.S. retail giants and economic data later in the week. Markets will be closely watching the release of the Federal Reserve’s minutes from the July meeting on Wednesday. 

Second-quarter earnings season winds down, with investors anticipating fresh reports from major global companies this week, including Home Depot, Agilent Technologies, Cisco, TJX, Target, Walmart, Applied Materials, Ross Stores, Deere & Company, Palo Alto Networks, and Estee Lauder. 

Keeping a lid on global market sentiment were concerns about China’s highly leveraged property sector after the country’s top private property developer said it will suspend trading of its onshore bonds from Monday. Recent data showed that China’s new bank loans plunged in July, with other key credit gauges also showing signs of weakening, despite policymakers’ efforts to mitigate the economic slowdown through interest rate cuts and pledges of further support.  In other news, two clients of Chinese trust company Zhongrong International Trust Co said over the weekend that they had not received payment on maturing investment products. 

WTI crude futures eased below $83 per barrel. Gold held below $1,920 an ounce while the yield on the US 10-year Treasury note rose above the 4.13% mark, approaching the nine-month high of 4.19%. Additionally, higher bond issuance from the US government also contributed to higher yields, with auctions for 10-year notes and 30-year bonds both seeing higher yields than previous results. 

Last week, the Dow dipped 0.1%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and the Nasdaq sank 1.8%, a second consecutive week of losses.  

Have a great day!