US Home Price Index Beat Expectations

News Event

From Trading Economics: The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index rose 5.1 percent year-on-year in August of 2016, following a 5 percent increase in July and above market expectations of 5 percent. Portland, Seattle and Denver reported the highest annual gains over each of the last seven months with prices up by 11.7 percent, 11.4 percent and 8.8 percent respectively in August. On a monthly basis, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index increased 0.4 percent, easing from a 0.6 percent rise in July.

Market Snap

Market Closing Wrap

In European Equity Markets stocks fell after a strongly start on Tuesday, with Germany's DAX briefly touching a new peak for 2016, after sentiment was knocked by mixed earnings on Wall Street and in Europe. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended down 0.4 percent. Germany's DAX ended flat after earlier touching a new peak for 2016 of 10,827.72 points. Top faller on the STOXX 600 was semi-conductors group AMS fell by nearly 13 percent after it gave a weak Q4 outlook, while some analysts were cautious over AMS' mid-term targets. UPM rose 10.8 percent after the paper maker posted higher profits and flagged restructuring plans. Dassault Systemes and Finnish refiner Neste also fell after results, down 7 percent and 5.6 percent respectively.

In Currency Markets the dollar hit its highest level in nearly eight months against the euro and a roughly three-month high against the yen on Tuesday on growing expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in December, while the offshore yuan hit a record low. The euro fell about 0.3 percent against the dollar and hit $1.0851, its lowest level since March 10. The dollar also hit its highest level since March 10 against the Swiss franc of 0.9998 franc. The dollar was last up 0.6 percent against the yen at 104.81 yen,  near a roughly three-month high of 104.87 yen. The dollar index was last up 0.34 percent at 99.087, near a roughly nine-month high of 99.119 touched earlier on Tuesday.

In Commodities Markets  oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday, with U.S. crude breaking below $50 per barrel for a second straight day ahead of weekly data that could show a build in domestic inventories.  Brent crude futures fell 1.2 percent, to $50.82 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.1 percent, to $49.92. Gold rose on Tuesday due to rising physical demand from India but growing expectations of a U.S. interest rate hike kept a lid on prices. Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $1,268.68 an ounce. Silver was up 0.6 percent at $17.67 an ounce. Platinum was up about 2 percent at $959.40 an ounce after hitting a two-week high of $963.60, while palladium was up 0.9 percent at $636.47.

In US Equity Markets  disappointing corporate results from several heavyweights dragged Wall Street as investors looked for clues regarding the timing of the next interest rate hike ahead of a Fed meeting next week. The S&P 500 was down 0.28 percent, at 2,145.31 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.34 percent, at 5,291.86. Procter & Gamble rose 4.5 percent after reporting a better-than-expected quarterly profit. Under Armour fell 13.9 percent after the sportswear maker reported its slowest quarterly sales growth in six years. 3M fell 3.2 percent after the maker of Scotch tape and Post-it notes trimmed its full-year revenue and earnings forecasts for the second time.

In Bond Markets  U.S. long-dated Treasury yields fell on Tuesday following a decline in U.S. consumer confidence this month, although the outlook on yields remained upbeat as investors become increasingly convinced the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December.  In late morning trading, benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were up 5/32 in price to yield 1.745 percent, down from 1.763 percent late on Monday. Earlier in the session, 10-year yields hit a one-week peak at 1.788 percent. U.S. 30-year bonds were 17/32 higher in price to yield 2.489 percent, down from Monday's 2.516 percent. U.S. 30-year yields touched a one-week peak of 2.5411 percent earlier on Tuesday.

Source: Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management