August in Figures
August 31, 2013
August was a difficult month for equities and for U.S. and European sovereign debt. Central bank leaders failed to convince markets that a change in quantitative monetary easing wouldn’t constitute a shift in overall monetary policy for the simple reason that it isn’t so. Dollar/yen experienced only a minuscule net change in August, and JGB yields bucked the trend of other bonds by settling back nine basis points. Dollar changes against the euro, Swiss franc and yuan were also smaller than 1.0%, but the greenback recorded considerably more sizeable gains against the Canadian and New Zealand dollars. Commodities were lifted by geopolitical unrest in Egypt and Syria. As August ended, an attack by the United States against Syria seems imminent to avenge the Assad government’s alleged used of chemical weapons, which if true constituted a step over the red line that President Obama had previously promised would trigger automatic military retaliation. History shows that the ultimatums of political leaders often boomerang, failing to deter their specific targets and or similar actions in the future. Investors enter September with another source of uncertainty on their plate, not knowing how this saga is going to wind up but convinced that whatever the outcome might be for Syria’s civil war, it’s going to hurt the U.S. both politically and economically.
| 10-Yr Yield | 07/31/13 | 08/31/13 | Chg vs End-July |
| U.S. | 2.67% | 2.79 | +12 Basis Points |
| Germany | 1.69% | 1.85% | +16 |
| Japan | 0.80% | 0.71% | -9 |
| U.K. | 2.37% | 2.77% | +40 |
| Canada | 2.57% | 2.61% | +4 |
| Switzerland | 1.05% | 1.08% | +3 |
| 3-month euros | Chg vs End-July | ||
| U.S. | 0.28% | 0.26% | -1 Basis Points |
| Euroland | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0 |
| Japan | 0.16% | 0.15% | -1 |
| U.K. | 0.51% | 0.52% | +1 |
| Canada | 1.17% | 1.17% | 0 |
| Swiss | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0 |
| FX | Pct Chg in USD | ||
| EUR/USD | 1.3301 | 1.2153 | +0.7% |
| USD/JPY | 97.92 | 98.19 | +0.3% |
| USD/CHF | 0.9365 | 0.9314 | -0.5% |
| GBP/USD | 1.5211 | 1.5491 | -1.8% |
| AUD/USD | 0.8989 | 0.8901 | +1.0% |
| NZD/USD | 0.7988 | 0.7732 | +3.3% |
| USD/CAD | 1.0269 | 1.0537 | +2.6% |
| USD/CNY | 6.1322 | 6.1192 | -0.2% |
| Equities | Chg vs End-July | ||
| S&P 500 | 1686 | 1633 | -3.1% |
| Nasdaq | 3630 | 3590 | -1.1% |
| Djia | 15500 | 14810 | -4.5% |
| Dax | 8276 | 8103 | -2.1% |
| Nikkei | 13688 | 13389 | -2.2% |
| Ftse | 6621 | 6413 | -3.1% |
| Canada TSE | 12552 | 12654 | +0.8% |
| Swiss SMI | 7821 | 7746 | -1.0% |
| Commodities | Chg vs End-July | ||
| Oil, $ per barrel | 105.63 | 107.65 | +1.9% |
| Gold, $ per ounce | 1312.4 | 1396.10 | +6.4% |
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2013. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: bonds, commodities, Dollar, stocks, world financial market trends
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