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[IFX Gertrude]

Euro Slides on Political Uncertainty



The euro fell as Angela Merkel's win as German Chancellor was tainted by a worse-than-anticipated result that leaves her with challenging coalition talks.

Despite Merkel winning her fourth term in office, the euro ended a two-day rally as her current coalition party, the Social Democratic Party, excluded itself from an agreement with Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, making the establishment of a united government more difficult. Merkel will need to reach a consensus with pro-business Free Democratic Party and Green Party in order to form a coalition, a development that may need months.

The common currency fell 0.2 percent at $1.1934, increasing the gap between a two-and-a-half year high of $1.2092 hit on September 8, when the ECB policy meeting lifted hopes of currency bulls that the central bank would start unwinding its massive stimulus program.

While majority of currency analysts see the euro closing the year above the $1.20 mark after its 13 percent rally so far this year, lengthy negotiations to establish government could affect market sentiment. The FDP opposes further EU integration, while the far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party entering the parliament could put nationalist pressure on Merkel.

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[IFX Gertrude]

VENEZUELA: Foreign Ministers Reaffirm Lima Declaration



The Foreign Ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru have reaffirmed the Lima Declaration, in which they pledge to joint efforts to solve the political crisis in Venezuela. The decision came at a meeting in New York last week.

In a statement released by the Mexican Foreign Ministry, the signatories regretted that Venezuela maintains "the breach of the democratic order, since its government violates constitutional norms, the will of the people and inter-American values, crackdown political dissent, hold prisoners and violates human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals."

They also expressed "support and solidarity to the democratically elected National Assembly, as well as their commitment to enforce non-recognition of the acts of the National Constituent Assembly (ANC), and to continue the implementation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter to Venezuela."

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[IFX Gertrude]

U.S. Stocks Declined over North Korea Tensions, Tech Selloff



Wall Street dropped on Monday, as a selloff in technology shares weighed on the Nasdaq, while North Korea's recent warnings to Washington contributed to a cautious tone.

The CBOE Volatility index, a broadly followed measure of market anxiety, notched a 2-week peak of 11.21 and last stood 1.12 points higher at 10.71.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.24 percent at 22,296.09. McDonald's, Visa and Boeing were the worst performers on the index, followed by Apple. Home Depot, Exxon Mobil and Walt Disney outperformed.

Information technology had its worst day since August 17, declining 1.4 percent as the largest loser in the S&P 500, which fell 0.22 percent to 2,496.66. Energy led six sectors up and finished almost 1.5 percent.

The Nasdaq composite briefly dropped over one percent but finished 0.99 percent lower at 6,370.59 in its worst day since September 5.

Tech names like Facebook, was down 4.81 percent, Microsoft, dropped 1.89 percent, while Apple, lost 1.11 percent. Other tech-related stocks also fell. Amazon.com declined 1.6 percent and Netflix tumbled 4.7 percent.

Shares of Apple dropped for the fourth consecutive day. The stock declined five percent the previous week, its worst week in over a year, following the launch of the iPhone 8 and some other products in stores. The stock remains almost 30 percent higher for 2017.

Social media giant Facebook fell 4.5 percent in their worst day of the year. It dropped a proposal to issue a new class of shares that will allow CEO Mark Zuckerberg to maintain voting control and fund the firm's philanthropic efforts.

The declines in tech were counterbalanced partly by a sharp rise in the energy sector, which climbed 1.5 percent. The sector was poised for its sixteenth advance in the previous 18 sessions.

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[IFX Gertrude]

ARGENTINA: Merval Breaks New Record Boosted By YPF



Merval, the main index of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, increased 0.33%, cutting back the gains obtained as soon as it opened, after the government announced that it would lift price control on fuels but rising enough to settle at 25,131.53 points Tuesday and break a new closing record high.

The state-owned oil company YPF was the most benefited by the government announcement climbing 6.26%.

Meanwhile, Central Puerto closed with a 4.95% increase after being granted two electricity generation projects, one in the province of Mendoza, for 89 MW and the other in the province of Santa Fe, for 317 MW.

The shares of Galicia (+2.08%) and Edenor (+1.98%) also rose, while Transener (-2.58%), Autopistas del Sol (-2.58%), and Costanera (-2.49%) fell.

The locally traded U.S. dollar rose 0.31%, closing at 17.58 Argentinean pesos, demanded for covering positions due to the end of the month.

"The foreign exchange market once again saw a rise in the US dollar traded with much lower volume - it was down 28% from yesterday - although it continued to be demanded by banks and companies," said Fernando Izzo, an analyst at ABC Mercado de Cambios.

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[IFX Gertrude]

Wall Street Mixed after Yellen’s Statements



U.S. equities finished narrowly mixed on Tuesday as technology stocks recuperated following its recent losses.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen supported the central bank's plan to hike interest rates gradually, raising the prospects of a December rate increase. Yellen said it would be imprudent to leave rates on hold until inflation hit the two percent target and that she saw “considerable” odds that inflation won't stabilize at that level over the next few years.

Growing tensions between the United States and North Korea also added pressure on market sentiment.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.05 percent to 22,284.32 in its first losing streak since June 23. McDonald's added the most pressure on the index, while Apple outperformed.

Information technology rose 0.4 percent to lead three S&P 500 gainers, as telecommunications lagged behind the most. The benchmark index climbed 0.01 percent to 2,496.84. Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were down, with telecom services index's 0.35 percent leading the losses.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite outperformed, shrugging off an almost one percent drop in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF and advanced 0.15 percent to 6,380.16.

Shares of Apple climbed 1.3 percent, marking its first gain following four sessions of declines and boosting three major indexes, after Raymond James improved its price target.

Red Hat was up 3.70 percent after the Linux distributor's quarterly profit came in above estimates and the software firm raised its full-year forecast.

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[IFX Gertrude]

Wall Street Climbs after Release of GOP Tax Plan, Banks Rise



U.S. equities advanced on Wednesday following the release of the GOP's tax plan framework and as investors paid attention to higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 0.25 percent, after marking its first four-day losing streak since June on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs was the best performer on the index.

The S&P 500 notched an all time-peak of 2,511.75, but did not set a record finish. The index closed 0.41 percent higher to 2,507.04. The Nasdaq composite outperformed by gaining 1.15 percent to 6,453.26, its best day since Aug 22.

Financial stocks rose 1.3 percent while information technology stocks climbed over one percent, the best performers on the S&P 500. Utilities, real estate investment trusts and consumer staples led losses on the index.

The GOP framework on tax reform would trim the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, as many anticipated. It also proposes to create just three individual tax rates and double the standard deduction.

The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks climbed 1.92 percent and hit its best day since early March. Small-cap names are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of a tax cut.

Nike pared gains on the Dow and S&P as shares of the athletic wear company lost 1.92 percent after it reported its slowest quarterly sales growth in almost seven years and said it sees a further decline in revenue from North America. However, Nike did report a nine percent increase in Greater China sales.

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[IFX Gertrude]

South Korea Inflation Eases More Than Forecast



South Korea's consumer price inflation eased more-than-expected in September, figures from Statistics Korea showed Thursday.

The consumer price index climbed 2.1 percent year-over-year in September, slower than August's 2.6 percent rise. Economists had expected the inflation to ease to 2.2 percent.

Excluding food and energy, core inflation remained stable at 1.4 percent in September.

Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages grew 3.3 percent annually in September and transport costs went up by 2.7 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent from August, when it increased by 0.6 percent. The expected rate of increase was 0.2 percent.

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[IFX Gertrude]

South Korea Has $6.06 Billion Current Account Surplus In August



South Korea saw a current account surplus of $6.06 billion in August, the Bank of Korea said on Friday - down from $7.26 billion in July.

The goods account surplus widened to $9.31 billion, compared to $6.94 billion in August of last year.

The services account saw a deficit of $2.33 billion, higher than the $1.50 billion figure in August 2016 due to deteriorations in the transport and the travel accounts, the bank said.

The primary income account reversed from its $0.53 billion surplus in August of last year to a deficit of $0.08 billion this year, in line with an increase in the payments on equity account.

The secondary income account showed a $0.84 billion deficit.

In the financial account there was an overall $9.13 billion increase in net assets in August.

Direct investment assets grew by $2.99 billion, and direct investment liabilities by $1.41 billion.

There was a $5.13 billion expansion in portfolio investment assets during the month, and a $6.33 billion decline in portfolio investment liabilities.

Financial derivatives posted a net contraction of $0.70 billion.

In terms of other investment, there was a decrease of $1.65 billion in assets and an increase of $2.54 billion in liabilities.

Reserve assets grew by $0.35 billion.

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[IFX Gertrude]

U.S. Stocks Climb on Health Care, Tax Plan Hopes



Wall Street rose on Thursday, with the S&P 500 on track to end at a record due to advances in McDonald's and healthcare firms. Investors are counting on U.S. President Donald Trump to make progress on tax reforms.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 0.18 percent to 22,381.20 while the small-cap Russell 2000 index notched an all-time peak after the release of the GOP's highly anticipated tax reform plan.

The S&P 500 rose 0.12 percent to 2,510.06, coming within 0.1 percent of its all-time peak but dropping to reach an intraday record. The Nasdaq composite added 0.19 points to 6,453.45, within 0.4 percent of its record.

Financial stocks climbed, with the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) marking its first 10-day win streak on record.

Materials and real estate stocks led S&P 500 gainers. Only the industrials and consumer discretionary stock sectors finished lower, by less than 0.1 percent each. The healthcare index led S&P advancers, climbing by a third of a percent.

McDonald's climbed over two percent as the largest contributor to advances in the Dow after Longbow Research increased its rating for the restaurant chain to purchase from neutral on expectations McDonald's sales will exceed Wall Street estimates.

AbbVie was the largest boost to the S&P, gaining over 5.6 percent after announcing a global resolution of intellectual property-related litigation with Amgen.

Major technology-related stocks steadied after huge losses earlier in the week. Apple and Netflix fell less than one percent, while Facebook and Amazon.com each ended around 0.6 percent higher.

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[IFX Gertrude]

Philippines Manufacturing PMI Climbs To 50.8 In September - Nikkei



The manufacturing sector in the Philippines continued to expand in September, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.8.

That's up from 50.6 in August, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Individually, orders remained modest, while output expansion slowed further.

Cost pressures intensified.

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