Macro Roundup (Aug 21)

SHANGHAI, Aug 21 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

Last night

The US dollar fell with the drop in Treasury yields, as investors braced for a potentially dovish Federal Reserve at the meeting in Jackson Holeon Friday, with many anticipating an announcement of some measures that would ease US recession concerns.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, lost close to 0.2% and finished at 98.16.

LME and SHFE base metals closed lower for the most part despite a weakened US dollar. LME zinc declined 1%, copper and nickel slid 0.9%, aluminum fell 0.5%, while lead rose 0.3%, and tin grew 0.6%. SHFE zinc shed 0.8%, nickel and copper dropped 0.6%, aluminium fell 0.4%, while tin gained 0.6%, and lead climbed 0.9%.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported late Tuesday that US crude supplies fell by 3.45 million barrels for the week ended August 16. The API also reportedly showed a stockpile decline of 403,000 barrels in gasoline, while distillate supplies rose by 1.8 million barrels. 

Day ahead

US pending home sales data for July and the weekly inventory data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released today.