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Market Data
Local
Global
*Data as of 6pm WAT
Market News
Local
NURPC unveils framework to address oil revenue loss - Punch
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has introduced a regulatory framework to tackle oil theft and illegal financial flows. The new initiative aims to improve oil-related revenue generation and curb corrupt practices in the sector.
NNPCL monopoly ends as marketer’s fuel vessel arrives - Punch
An independent marketer imported 27 million liters of petrol, breaking the monopoly previously held by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. The vessel arrived after the end of subsidies, costing the CEO and bank partners $17 million to hire.Guaranty Trust Bank Gains International Recognition - This Day
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has won the Best Bank in Nigeria award at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023, marking the 12th time it has received this recognition. Despite challenges, GTBank delivered exceptional results under Guaranty Trust Holding Company, achieving significant profit and performance metrics.
Global
US Housing Starts Fell in June After Surging in Prior Month
- Bloomberg
US housing starts declined 1.5% in June to 1.55 million units, but single-family home starts rose 2.4%. Rising mortgage rates might impact the market, but demand for new homes remains strong.UK inflation rate slides to 7.9% in June, below expectations - CNBC
UK inflation declined to 7.9% in June due to lower energy prices, but food and clothing costs continued to rise. The Bank of England aims to control inflation by raising interest rates further. The bank expects inflation to peak at 11% in October before falling to 2% in 2024.
US SEC accepts six spot bitcoin ETF proposals for review - Reuters
The US SEC has accepted six spot bitcoin ETF applications for review from companies including BlackRock, Fidelity, and VanEck. This marks the first acceptance of such applications since 2017, indicating a more favorable stance towards bitcoin ETFs. A decision on approval is yet to be made.
No word from North Korea on US soldier who dashed across military border - Reuters
A US soldier crossed into North Korea from the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and has not been heard from since. It is the first defection to North Korea by a US soldier since 2017.
Apple has hopped on the AI bandwagon, sort of.
Noticeably absent from the recent AI buzz, the company is now developing AI tools to compete with Microsoft and Google.
It has created a framework called “Ajax” to build large language models (LLMs).
It’s also created an internal AI chatbot referred to as “Apple GPT”.
Though it has no clear plans for releasing any new tech to the public currently, it’s aiming for a major AI announcement by next year.
Weekly Investment Watchlist
Market Commentary
Asia and Australia
PBOC set yuan fixing at 7.1466, 680 pips stronger than Bloomberg estimate and largest bias since November.
China’s Loan prime rates were left unchanged with 1y at 3.55% and 5y at 4.20%, both matching expectations
Hot Australian labor market increases pressure on RBA to hike again in August.
Australian economy added 32.6K jobs in June, less than May’s 76.5K increase but more than double consensus for a 15.0K gain.
Europe, Middle East, Africa
BoE Deputy Governor Ramsden said late Wednesday inflation has begun to fall significantly but remains too high, keeping the door open to further hikes.
Latest Eurostat shows Eurozone economy avoided a winter recession with revised figures showing it stagnated at the start of this year instead of shrinking as previously thought.
German PPI 0.1% y/y vs consensus 0.0% and prior +1.0%
Turkey’s Central Bank slows the pace of rate hikes raising rates today by 2.5% from 15% to 17.5%. The consensus was for 20%.
The Americas
June housing starts down 8% m/m to 1.434M, missing consensus for 1.483M. Initial May print for 21.7% growth to 1.631M revised down to 15.7% growth to 1.631M to 1.559M.
Netflix revenue disappoints, overshadowing big subscriber beat following crackdown on password sharing
Tesla gross margin shrinks more than forecast as price cuts impact profitability; Elon Musk says Tesla to invest more than $1B to become player in supercomputing by end-2024
IBM Q2 revenue just below forecasts, reaffirms FY guidance after raising outlook for software growth
Around a fifth of 27M student debt holders due to start repayments in September to pay more than $500/month
The biggest earnings beat this morning came out of the homebuilder, DR Horton delivering a 40% beat on EPS and 16% beat on Revenue. Homebuilding gross margin improved to at 23.3% vs. 21.2% last quarter. This is something we were watching.
The Week Ahead:
Monday:
China's Gross Domestic Product expanded by 6.3% year-on-year in Q2 2023
NY Empire State Manufacturing Index dropped to +1.1
Tuesday:
US Retail sales in the US rose 0.2% month-over-month in June of 2023
Wednesday:
UK Consumer price inflation dropped to 7.9 percent
US Building permits declined by 3.7% in June 2023 to an annual rate of 1.44 million
Thursday:
The People's Bank of China (PBoC) maintained lending rates in July, keeping the one-year loan prime rate at 3.55% and the five-year rate at 4.2%
US Initial jobless claims
US existing home sales
Friday:
UK GFK Consumer Confidence
UK Retail Sales
Investment Tip of The Day
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