US stocks bounced back up after yields fell today after markets assessed the impact of central bank decisions. The dollar fluctuated around 105.50, and the 10yr US yield is now back at 4.43%. The preliminary September US PMI releases that showed business activity in the world’s largest economy narrowly avoided contraction. The Composite PMI stood at 50.1 as the better-than-expected manufacturing reading at 48.9 was hampered by subdued activity in the services sector at 50.2. Given the prolonged period of high borrowing costs, which continue to pile pressure on companies, we will likely see US business activity fall into contractionary territory by the end of this year. The yen weakened after the BOJ’s Ueda calmed market expectations about a potential hike.
Base metals bounced back today after earlier losses brought forward by macro. Aluminium remains firmly above the 50-day moving average at $2,240.50/t. Copper found support at $8,200/t following yesterday’s loss and closed at $8,222/t. Likewise, nickel struggled below $19,100/t today but lacked the momentum to reverse earlier gains. This underscores that nickel’s downside momentum is not abating soon, and we could see prices drift lower in the meantime. Lead jumped higher to close at $2,214/t.
Both oil futures and gold and silver edged marginally higher today, with the latter trading at $1,928/oz and $23.60/oz, respectively.
All price data is from 30.09.2023 as of 17:30