Macro Roundup (Sep 28)

SHANGHAI, Sep 28 —This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

The dollar made little progress in a choppy session on Tuesday while appetites for riskier bets were still weak as Federal Reserve policymakers talked about more interest rate hikes.

The greenback was up against the euro but losing ground against the British pound and Japan’s yen with all eyes on central banks and the impact on economic growth from their efforts to tame inflation.

Sterling, after earlier climbing more than 1% to $1.0837, was last up 0.37%. It had plunged to a record low on Monday. The euro was down 0.16% against the dollar at $0.9591, and the dollar up 0.06% against the yen at 144.83. It didn’t help that Wall Street indexes were also having a volatile session.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said in a WSJ Live interview Tuesday that the Fed needs to keep tightening until it has evidence underlying inflation is heading down, then should pause and “let the tightening work its way through the economy” to see if it has done enough.

Stock futures ticked up on Tuesday evening after a relief rally failed during regular trading hours and the S&P 500 hit a new intraday low for the year.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 50 points, or about 0.2%. S&P 500 futures gained nearly 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose about 0.3%.

During Tuesday’s session, stocks gave up a large early gain and the S&P 500 fell below its intraday low from June, which was the previous market bottom. The Dow and S&P 500 closed lower for the sixth straight day, while the Nasdaq Composite ground higher by 0.25%. All three major averages are now in bear market territory.

Several technical metrics show that the stock market may be oversold, but some on Wall Street are worried that investors have not priced in an earnings slowdown and the impact of the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes. The S&P 500 breaking below its previous low is a key indicator for some that stocks still have further to fall.

Oil rose Tuesday from a nine-month low a day earlier, supported by supply curbs in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico ahead of Hurricane Ian and a slight softening in the U.S. dollar.

Analyst expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, may take action to stem the drop in prices by cutting supply also lent support. OPEC+ meets to set policy on Oct. 5.

Brent crude ended the day at $86.27 per barrel for a gain of 2.6%. On Monday it fell as low as $83.65, the lowest since January. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended the day 2.33% higher at $78.50 per barrel.

Gold prices rebounded from a 2-1/2-year low on Tuesday as a pause in the U.S. dollar’s rally helped restore greenback-priced bullion’s allure, although risks from looming rate hikes persisted.

Spot gold was last 0.38% higher at $1,627.6707 per ounce, after rising over 1% to $1,642.29 earlier in the session.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was flat by the close, having earlier given back gains of around 1.3%. Oil and gas stocks added 1.6% to lead gains as most sectors finished in positive territory.