Macro Roundup (Jul 22)

SHANGHAI, Jul 22 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

The euro on Tuesday climbed to its highest against the US dollar in more than four months after European Union countries struck an agreement on a massive stimulus plan to revive their coronavirus-battered economies.

The dollar, in which most oil contracts are priced, fell to its lowest since March against a basket of currencies.

On Wall Street, stocks were mostly higher on the back of strong earnings. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 150 points, after rising more than 300 points at its high of the day. The S&P 500 closed in positive territory with a modest gain of 0.2%.

The Nasdaq Composite underperformed, dipping 0.8% as Facebook, Amazon Apple, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet all closed lower. The Nasdaq gained more than 2.5% on Monday.

Oil rose on Tuesday, hitting levels last seen when an oil price war erupted in early March between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Nonferrous metals also moved higher across the board on Tuesday. On the LME, aluminium and zinc both advanced 2.2% on the day to lead the way up, nickel jumped 2.1%, copper climbed 1.4%, tin rose 1.2% and lead gained 0.7%.

On the SHFE, zinc crept up 1.9% in overnight trading, nickel rose 1.4%, aluminium climbed 1.1%, copper advanced 1%, lead inched up 0.6% and tin edged up 0.1%.

Positive news in the hunt for a coronavirus vaccine also buoyed market sentiment again Tuesday. Pfizer and BioNTech reported early positive data on a joint coronavirus vaccine Monday and another candidate from Oxford University and AstraZeneca also showed a positive immune response in an early trial. Covid-19 has now infected more than 14.6 million people worldwide and killed over 608,000.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported late Tuesday that US crude supplies rose by 7.5 million barrels for the week ended July 17. The API data also reportedly showed gasoline stockpiles fell by 2 million barrels, while distillate inventories declined by nearly 1.4 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub, meanwhile, edged up by 716,000 barrels for the week.

Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released Wednesday.

US existing home sales for June will also be released Wednesday. Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting a rebound to 4.73 million sales.