US: Saudi Crown Prince To Meet Trump In Nov To Finalise Investment Pledges - BBG
Aug-07 14:46
Bloomberg reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman will travel to Washington in November to meet President Donald Trump. The report notes that MBS is expected to "finalize many of the pledges" made during Trump's May visit to the Gulf, "with a focus on sectors like artificial intelligence, chemicals, defense and energy".
- Bloomberg: "The Trump administration has invited MBS... and the planned visit comes on the back of the US leader’s visit to Saudi Arabia... At the time, Trump, who was accompanied by more than 30 business leaders from top US corporations, said $1 trillion worth of deals were signed... Later, the White House said it was more like $600 billion."
- A White House reception - a first since 2018 - will be a political win for MBS, completing a return to full diplomatic relations with the US after strain following the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
- The report comes a week after Riyadh joined with Arab countries, including Qatar and Egypt, in calling for Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza, a major shift in policy that could facilitate continued discussions on the expansion of Trump's flagship first-term foreign policy initiative, the Abraham Accords.
- Trump posted on Truth Social earlier today: "Now that the nuclear arsenal being “created” by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords. This will insure PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST."
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NZD: NZDUSD Edging Lower Ahead of RBNZ
Jul-08 14:36
- Unlike its antipodean counterpart, the firmer greenback on Tuesday is allowing NZD (-0.25%) to extend this week’s decline, notable given the proximity to Wednesday’s RBNZ decision. While sell-side consensus is for the RBNZ to remain on hold (consistent with market pricing), there are some forecasters looking for a rate cut tomorrow.
- Recent inflation outcomes arguably provide the strongest signal that the RBNZ should hold pat but in contrast, growth indicators are still arguing for easier policy settings. While the central bank is likely to be comfortable to preserve policy space at this juncture, it is likely to leave the door ajar for further policy support given headwinds to domestic growth. The MNI preview is here: https://mni.marketnews.com/4nxxl4h
- For NZDUSD, today’s weakness has closed the gap to an important support level at 0.5984, the 50-day EMA. A close below this average would mark the first daily close below since April 09, threatening the bullish underlying trend. Below here, 0.5883 would be the next target before 0.5847, the double bottom seen in mid-May and an important pivot support.
- As noted earlier, AUDNZD has had a solid 0.5% bounce to a six-week high of 1.0887. Trendline support drawn from the April lows has helped underpin the latest recovery, targeting a more protracted bounce to 1.0922 and the early April highs just above 1.10.
Source: Bloomberg Finance L.P. / MNI
CANADA DATA: Ivey PMI Rises In June, But Overall Points To Soft Q2 GDP
Jul-08 14:32
The Ivey Purchasing Manager's Index Jumped 4.4 points to 53.3 in June, the highest reading in 4 months and the first 50+ since March (signalling that more respondents indicated purchases were greater than the previous month vs those who reported fewer purchases).
- The underlying indices were mixed, with prices remaining elevated (70.2, up 3.3 points), lower supplier delivery times (44.7, down 2.8 points) and inventories (50.6, down 4.3 points), and weaker employment (49.5, down 1.6 points).
- This is in some contrast to the S&P Global PMI, whose composite index fell to a 2-month low 44.0 in June on weakness in both manufacturing and services - clearly signalling contraction amid the US-Canada trade conflict.
- The Ivey PMI is too volatile to take much signal from on a month-to-month basis, but the 3-month average 50.0 points to broadly flat/slightly negative quarterly growth in Q2. Consensus is for -0.5% Q/Q SAAR.
EQUITIES: EU Bank Put Spread seller
Jul-08 14:30
SX7E (20/03/26) 200/160ps, sold at 9.45 in 6k vs 1.68k at 206.40.
