UN: Presidents Of Ukraine, Iran & Argentina Among 2nd Day Speakers
The second day of the UN General Assembly general debate is underway (livestream here), with King Felipe VI of Spain delivering the opening address. Speakers on the second day include (with rough timings), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (09:30ET/14:30BST), Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (10:00ET/15:00BST), Argentinan President Javier Milei (12:00ET/17:00BST), Finnish President Alexander Stubb (13:15ET/18:15BST), and Slovak President Peter Pellegrini (17:00ET/22:00BST).
- Zelenskyy's speech comes in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump's high-profile Truth Social post seemingly backing Ukraine's efforts to repel Russia's invasion to a greater extent than previously (albeit with implications Ukraine and Europe may have to go it alone, see 'UKRAINE: Trump Post Strikes Positive Tone, But Could Put NATO & Kyiv On Notice', 10:14BST).
- Pezeshkian will speak following a meeting of the E3 (France, Germany, UK), EU, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on 23 Sep in a last-minute effort to avoid snapback sanctions coming in on 27 Sep.
- Financial markets will be watching Milei's address with the US talking up its commitments to supporting the Argentine economy, which faces significant headwinds amid concerns that the opposition left-wing Peronists will retain control of Congress in the October legislative elections, stymying the Milei administration's reform efforts.
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US DATA: Building Permits Revised Up Slightly, Single Family Activity Still Weak
July's building permits were revised up in the final reading to 1,362k (annualized, seasonally-adjusted), vs 1,354k in the initial estimate. That got the data a little closer to the 1,386k consensus estimate going into the initial reading last week, though either way it is a pullback from 1,393k in June (a 2.2% fall vs the 2.8% initially recorded).
- The upward revision was due to both single family permitting getting revised up 5k to 875k, and multi-unit up 3k (to 487k).
- That's still a 7.6% M/M fall for multi-units, biggest since January, with single-family confirming the first rise since February.
- Overall though single family permitting has been slowing faster than for multi-units (single family = down 7% Y/Y, multis down less than 1% Y/Y), unsurprising given historically low homebuilders' confidence and rising single-family new home supply amid high mortgage rates.
- As a leading indicator of starts, this suggests residential investment will continue to be a drag on GDP growth.
MNI: BELGIUM AUG BNB BUSINESS CONFIDENCE -8.9
- MNI: BELGIUM AUG BNB BUSINESS CONFIDENCE -8.9
FRANCE T-BILL AUCTION RESULTS: 13/26/28/50-week BTFs
| Type | 13-week BTF | 26-week BTF | 28-week BTF | 50-week BTF |
| Maturity | Nov 26, 2025 | Feb 25,2026 | Mar 11, 2026 | Aug 12, 2026 |
| Amount | E3.198bln | E600mln | E2bln | E2bln |
| Target | E2.8-3.2bln | E0.2-0.6bln | E1.6-2.0bln | E1.6-2.0ln |
| Previous | E3bln | E1.999bln | E1.997bln | |
| Avg yield | 1.974% | 1.963% | 1.995% | 1.994% |
| Previous | 1.963% | 1.973% | 1.980% | |
| Bid-to-cover | 2.43x | 6.93x | 2.82x | 3.37x |
| Previous | 3.00x | 3.46x | 2.56x | |
| Previous date | Aug 18, 2025 | Aug 18, 2025 | Aug 18, 2025 |
