FYI The S&P 500 edged lower Friday, capping a tumultuous week where investors ricocheted between risky and safe assets as they reacted to the trade war and emerging currency fight between Washington and Beijing.
President Trump on Friday morning suggested a meeting with China on trade might be canceled, putting downward pressure on stocks. The S&P 500 dropped 0.66% Friday afternoon, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 1.00%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by 0.34%. After all the big swings of recent days, all three major indexes were set to close the week with modest drops less than 1%.
“We’re not ready to make a deal, but we’ll see what happens,” Mr. Trump told reporters Friday morning. “We will see whether or not China keeps our meeting in September.”
Markets around the world have swung this week after moves from China’s central bank triggered fears that the trade fight with the U.S. could spread to a new front in the foreign-exchange markets.
What began as a rout on Monday--with U.S. stocks suffering their worst one-day drop of the year--reversed course as Beijing didn’t take as aggressive a stance on weakening the yuan as some investors feared. The S&P 500 rebounded 1.9% on Thursday, before resuming its drop today.
Investors have piled into safe-haven assets such as U.S. government bonds and gold amid the latest turmoil. The yield on the 10-year U.S. government bond hit its lowest level in several years earlier this week. It was recently 1.724%, up from 1.710% on Thursday, after choppy trading. Yields move in the opposite direction as prices.
Gold futures were little changed at $1,509.80 a troy ounce on Friday, after settling at six-year highs on Wednesday.
The yuan remained stable Friday, but the offshore rate to the dollar was weaker than a previous key level, with the currency trading at 7.08 to the dollar.
In the U.S., shares of Uber Technologies fell 6% after the ride-hailing company reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss after markets close on Thursday.
In Europe, the benchmark Stoxx 600 index dropped 0.8%, while the British pound touched multiyear lows against the euro and the dollar. Italian government bonds sold off heavily, pushing yields sharply higher after Matteo Salvini, the head of the far-right League party, sought to trigger elections.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7% after economic data on Friday showed that producer prices have fallen into deflation for the first time in three years, as worries over the trade war with the U.S. sapped demand.
U.S. crude oil gained 3.7% to $54.49 a barrel. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others, slipped less than 0.1%.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-08/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-poised-to-retreat-friday-as-10-year-treasury-resumes-slide-below-17-2019-08-09/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/stocks-drift-lower-yuan-remains-stable-11565338669Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-08/yen-gains-yuan-dips-as-trade-frictions-return-markets-wrapIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/stock-market-stocks-trim-losses-wild-week-growth-stocks/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/stock-market-china-us-trade-relations-in-focus-once-again.htmlReuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-street-extends-fall-as-trumps-comment-amplifies-trade-fears-idUSKCN1UZ191U.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-down-on-trade-italy-jitters-uk-gdp-shock-hits-midcaps-idUKKCN1UZ0NUEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/italy-leads-european-shares-lower-on-political-uncertainty-idUSKCN1UZ0NOAsia:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/asia-stocks-august-9-china-inflation-data-yuan-us-china-trade-war.htmlBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/us-bonds-10-year-treasury-yield-in-focus-amid-trade-growth-worries.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/forex-markets-us-china-trade-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/oil-markets-opec-us-china-trade-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/gold-markets-us-china-trade-global-economy-in-focus.htmlWSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/usMajor ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitorSPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-trackerSPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectorsCurrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
