Monday August 31, 2020 Trading Desk: (312) 236-8907
TODAY’S GAME PLAN: from the trading desk, this is not research
DATA/HEADLINES: 9:00ET Fed’s Clarida speaks; 10:30ET Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity, Fed’s Bostic speaks
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
- US COVID cases approached 6 million as outbreaks accelerated on college campuses
- Projections show that Covid-19 will cause more people to die globally this year from hunger than from virus infections
- India said its troops clashed with Chinese solders along their contested Himalayan border
- ByteDance will be required to seek Chinese government approval to sell the U.S. operations of its TikTok app under new restrictions Beijing imposed on exporting artificial-intelligence technologies
- Russian Health Minister says mass vaccination of Russian population against COVID-19 to begin after Nov-Dec this year – TASS
The relentless rally in global stocks is not showing any signs of stopping today with most gauges across the world adding to gains. Warren Buffett’s interest in Japanese stocks helped drive sentiment there. Hopes of more accommodative measures by major central banks, in line with the US Federal Reserve’s stance last week, also supported the outlook for equities. Activity in China’s services sector expanded at a much faster pace in August, as demand across the economy continues to recover from a coronavirus-induced slump. Still, coronavirus infections in the U.S. are ticking up again and India recorded its biggest daily spike as cases worldwide surpassed 25 million.
EQUITIES:
Contracts on the three main US stock indexes pointed to a strong open as August is headed for its best performance since 1984. The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high for a sixth consecutive trading session on Friday
S&P 500 futures are set to rise for a eighth straight day +0.1%, Nasdaq +0.3%, Russell 2000 futures +0.4%, Dow futures are flat. RSI in the S&P 500 is at its highest level since the January 2018 significant high, so we may be nearing a pull back of some sort…
