Holborn Market Recap 28-2 October 2020

Posted on: 2nd October 2020 in News

Good day, this is Holborn’s weekly market recap. Let’s take a look at this week’s news in finance.

Monday September 28th

News in finance: On Monday the European Central Bank’s (ECB) head Christine Lagarde said that the ECB is ready to deploy more monetary stimulus to aid the euro bloc’s financial recovery. Lagarde noted that the inflation rate is expected to remain negative over the coming months.

Tuesday September 29th

News in finance: On Tuesday a report by the Japanese Statistics Bureau showed that the Tokyo Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in at 0.2% in September on an annualised basis. The figure has remained much lower than the 2% target that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has set.

In the UK, the Bank of England’s (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey said that the country’s economy had performed a bit more strongly than the BoE’s governing council anticipated but noted that the recovery wouldn’t be as strong going forward. Bailey didn’t rule out the implementation of negative interest rates as a way to help the struggling economy.

Wednesday September 30th

News in finance: According to data published by the Chinese Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP), the country’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 51.5 for September, while the non-manufacturing PMI hit 55.9. Both figures were above the forecast of economists polled by Bloomberg.

In the UK, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by 19.8% in the second quarter of the year, on an annualised basis. Economists had been expecting a 20.4% decline. The drop in GDP is the largest recorded since records began in 1995 with the UK being the worst G-7 performer in the first half of 2020.

In the US,  data released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that the country’s GDP fell by 31.4% in Q2 2020. The figure, however, was better than the 31.7% anticipated by analysts.

Thursday October 1st

News in finance: On Thursday the Swiss Federal Statistical Office announced that the country’s inflation rate came in at -0.8% in September, on a year-to-year basis, in line with market expectations.

In eurozone’s financial updates, a report by Eurostat revealed that the bloc’s unemployment rate stood at 8.1% in August as economists had forecast.

In the US, the Institute for Supply and Management (ISM) reported that the manufacturing PMI hit 55.4 in September, lower than August’s reading and the economists’ forecasts.

Friday October 2nd

News in finance: On Friday, the Japanese Statistics Bureau announced that the country’s unemployment rate ticked higher in August, reaching 3.0%.

Australian retail sales fell by 4% in August, on a month-to-month basis. Despite the drop, the figure was better than the anticipated -4.2%.

In the US, Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) rose by 661,000 in September according to data published by the Bureau of Labour Statistics. The figure was lower than expected by economists. The country’s unemployment rate stood at 7.9%, surpassing analysts’ expectations. 

From all of us at Holborn Assets have a lovely weekend!