• Wall Street closed higher on September 19, with the DJIA, S&P 500, and Nasdaq surged by +1.26%, +1.70% and +2.51%, respectively.
• Stocks surged on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones setting new all-time highs, and the Nasdaq climbing to a 2-month high. The rally came after the Fed's aggressive -50 bp rate cut on Wednesday, along with expectations for another -50 bp cut this year, sparking risk-on sentiment and hopes for a soft landing.
• The 10-yr UST yield rose by +3.0 bps to 3.73%, while the 2-yr yield fell by -2.0 bps to 3.59. T-notes came under pressure as US jobless claims fell to a 4-month low, signaling labor market strength and a hawkish Fed outlook. They later recovered after August existing home sales dropped to a 10-month low.
• US weekly initial unemployment claims fell by 12,000 to 219,000 for the week ending September 14th, the lowest in four months and better than the expected 230,000.
• Existing home sales in the U.S. fell -2.5% MoM in August, reaching a 10-month low of 3.86 million, which was weaker than the anticipated 3.90 million.
• In Europe, The Bank of England decided to keep the Bank Rate at 5% during its September 2024 meeting, following a 25 bps cut in August—the first rate reduction in more than four years. This outcome matched market forecasts.
• In Asia, Japan's annual inflation rate increased to 3.0% YoY in August 2024, up from 2.8% YoY over the past three months. Core inflation hit a six-month high of 2.8% YoY, rising for the fourth straight month and matching the median market forecast.
• Global bond yields moved higher on Thursday: the 10-yr German bund yield edged up by +0.8 bps to 2.20%, the 10-yr UK gilt yield rose by +4.5 bps to 3.89%, while the 10-yr Japanese JGB advanced by +2.2 bps to 0.85%.
