August in Review
September 1, 2015
A possible global bear market in equities took shape increasingly as August unfolded. Currency markets were dominated by the fall-out of the Chinese yuan devaluation, namely a decline of the dollar against the yen and euro and generally weak commodity-sensitive currencies. A significant rise of 16 basis points occurred in the 10-year German bund yield, but net movements last month in other sovereign bond yields shown below were much smaller. Money market rates barely changed, and oil and gold advanced 4.4% and 3.4%, respectively.
10-Yr Yield | 07/31/15 | 08/31/15 | Chg vs End-July |
U.S. | 2.18% | 2.22% | +4 Basis Points |
Germany | 0.64% | 0.80% | +16 |
Japan | 0.40% | 0.37% | -3 |
U.K. | 1.88% | 1.96% | +8 |
Canada | 1.44% | 1.49% | +5 |
Switzerland | -0.09% | -0.15% | -6 |
3-month rates | Chg vs End-July | ||
U.S. | 0.30% | 0.33% | +3 Basis Points |
Euroland | -0.02% | -0.03% | -1 |
Japan | 0.10% | 0.09% | +1 |
U.K. | 0.58% | 0.59% | +1 |
Swiss | -0.74% | -0.72% | +2 |
FX | Pct Chg in USD | ||
EUR/USD | 1.0985 | 1.1229 | -2.2% |
USD/JPY | 123.90 | 121.18 | -2.2% |
USD/CHF | 0.9657 | 0.9657 | 0.0% |
GBP/USD | 1.5621 | 1.5351 | +1.8% |
AUD/USD | 0.7301 | 0.7117 | +2.6% |
NZD/USD | 0.6592 | 0.6334 | +4.1% |
USD/CAD | 1.3091 | 1.3169 | +0.6% |
USD/CNY | 6.2102 | 6.3765 | +2.7% |
Equities | Chg vs End-July | ||
S&P 500 | 2104 | 1972 | -6.3% |
Nasdaq | 5128 | 4777 | -6.8% |
Djia | 17690 | 16528 | -6.6% |
Dax | 11309 | 10259 | -9.3% |
Nikkei | 20585 | 18890 | -8.2% |
Ftse | 6696 | 6248 | -6.7% |
Canada TSE | 14468 | 13859 | -4.2% |
Swiss SMI | 9428 | 8825 | +6.4% |
Commodities | Chg vs End-July | ||
Oil, $ per barrel | 47.12 | 49.20 | +4.4% |
Gold, $ per ounce | 1094.90 | 1131.60 | +3.4% |
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2015. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: bonds, commodities, money market rates, stocks