• U.S. indices closed slightly higher yesterday, which also led to a better sentiment during the Asia-Pacific region's session. Chinese indices are seeing gains between 0.60-0.80%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index is up 0.90% to 36,600 points. Meanwhile, Australia's S&P/ASX200 is down by 0.25%. Contracts for the SG20cash index in Singapore are up by 0.70%.

  • Futures contracts for European indices also indicate a moderately higher opening of the cash session on the Old Continent. DAX is up 0.30%, reaching 18,000 points.

  • On the forex market in the first part of the day, the dollar is trading without significant changes. Despite increased volatility following the release of yesterday's CPI data, the USDIDX dollar index ended the day flat. One of the stronger currencies today is the Australian dollar, gaining around 0.4-0.5% against other G10 currencies.

  • Industrial production for June in Japan came in significantly below expectations.
    • Industrial production: actual -4.2% m/m; forecast -3.6% m/m; previous 3.6% m/m.  
    • In annual terms, the decline was 7.9%.  

  • However, investor sentiment in Japan was balanced by better GDP data for Q2 of this year. The Japanese economy grew at a much faster pace than expected in the second quarter (3.1% annualized), rebounding after a slump at the beginning of the year thanks to strong consumption growth. Strong GDP data support speculation for another interest rate hike in the near future.

    • GDP (Q2): actual 3.1% y/y; forecast 2.1% y/y; previous -2.3% y/y.  
    • GDP (q/q) (Q2): actual 0.8%; forecast 0.6%; previous -0.6%.  
    • Private consumption's contribution to GDP (q/q) (Q2): actual 1.0%; forecast 0.5%; previous -0.6%.  
    • GDP deflator (Q2): actual 3.0% y/y; forecast 2.6% y/y; previous 3.4% y/y.  

  • Industrial production in China rose by 5.1% in July compared to the previous year but slowed from 5.3% in June. Official data released by NBS was below the consensus of 5.2%.

  • On the other hand, retail sales in China increased by 2.7% in July, accelerating growth from 2.0% in June. These data were higher than the expectations of 2.6%.

  • Australia's unemployment rate rose to 4.2% last month, despite employers adding about three times more jobs than expected. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain at 4.1% from June. The rise in the unemployment rate will be another argument for the RBA to ease monetary policy.

  • In the cryptocurrency market, we are seeing deepening declines. Bitcoin is down by 1.00% today, reaching $58,000. Similar drops can also be observed in Ethereum and smaller projects.