ECONOMIC DATA OF THE DAY

Time	CY	Indicator	Forecast	Previous
06:45	NZD	Trade Balance	-325m	127m
14:00	EUR	GDP SA QoQ	0.40%	0.40%
19:00	USD	MBA Mortgage Applications	N/A	-4.00%
22:00	USD	Existing Home Sales	5.51m	5.57m

(Source: FabTrader)

SPEECHES

• No Speech

OVERNIGHT NEWS

• US: 
• Purchases of new single-family homes leapt 12.4% MoM (Mkt est: neg-2.4%) to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000 (Mkt est: 580k), the highest level since October 2007. YoY sales spiked 31.3%. Inventory of new homes on the market fell to an eight-month low. There was a 4.3-month supply of newly built homes available at the end of July, the smallest supply in three years. The median sale price of a new home sold dipped 0.5% YoY to $294,600. Sales soared 40% in the Northeast, increased 1.2% in the Midwest and leapt 18.1% in the South. Sales were flat in the West.
• The Markit US Manufacturing PMI dropped to 52.1 from 52.9 in August. A further solid increase in output was the most positive influence. In contrast, slower growth in total new work and employment, alongside further cuts to inventories, dampened the overall headline figure
• The Congressional Budget Office said the U.S. budget deficit is forecast to expand to $590bln in fiscal year 2016 (Prev: deficit-$534bln) due to slower than expected growth in revenues and higher spending for programs including Social Security and Medicare. The estimate points to the deficit increasing in relation to economic output for the first time since 2009. CBO said the deficit is expected to be $152bln higher than in 2015 and will equate to 3.2% of economic output. The CBO said public debt will amount to nearly 77% of GDP by the end of 2016, three percentage points higher than 2015 and its highest ratio since 1950.
• SOUTH AFRICA: 
• South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan received “correspondence” from a special police unit. Johannesburg-based Daily Maverick reported that the Hawks asked Gordhan and four other former tax agency officials to report to their office on Thursday. Gordhan may face dismissal and arrest on espionage charges for setting up the South African Revenue Service’s National Research Group to spy on politicians including President Jacob Zuma, 74
• Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said in interview that South Africa still has “relatively low” interest rates. As long as inflation is high, interest rates will be high; can’t have interest rates below inflation
• OPEC: 
• Reuters reported that Iran is sending "positive signals" about supporting joint action to bolster the oil market
• TURKEY: 
• Turkey Central Bank Cuts the Overnight Lending Rate 25 bps to 8.5% while holding the benchmark repo and overnight borrowing rates unchanged. The Finance minister said that there is room for more easing

FOREIGN EXCHANGE (INDICATIVE RATES)

Currency	Last	% Change	Overnight Range
DXY	94.54	0.04%	94.214 – 94.563
EURUSD	1.1305	-0.17%	1.1303 – 1.1355
USDJPY	100.28	-0.10%	99.94 - 100.93
AUDUSD	0.7616	-0.16%	0.7613 – 0.7655
GBPUSD	1.3196	0.51%	1.3132 - 1.3211

(Source: FabTrader)

COMMODITIES (INDICATIVE RATES)

Currency	Price USD	% Change	Overnight Range
Gold	1338.57	0.01%	1335.24 - 1344.83
Silver	18.87	0.32%	18.816 - 19.125
Oil (BRENT)	49.96	1.84%	48.48 - 50.21
Oil (WTI)	47.58	0.66%	46.59 - 48.32

(Source: Bloomberg and Saxo)

COMMODITIES

Precious Metals: Gold and silver remain muted and traded around support at 1340 and 19 dollars respectively. Does not expect much movement until the Jackson Hole meeting later this week. Will prefer to buy on dip if gold slumped to recent range low at around 1310

Oil: Oil had a little respite and rebounded 1%  towards August highs on positive news for the industry. Iran is said to be sending positive signals that they may support a joint action by OPEC by limiting production so that demand and supply can even out.

FOREX NEWS

• Very quiet market in the G10 space with decent bids in GBP, holding quite well at the moment above 1.3000 after 2 attempts since Brexit.
• We have been hearing about a German Chemical company looking to purchase a company in the US that could bring some selling interests in EURUSD but unfortunately not much more info than that
• In Emerging Markets, the main mover was USDZAR which moved 4% higher to reach a high of 14.0000 after the arrest of the Finance Minister. Very volatile move in the rest of EM currencies as well with strong bidding interest and USDKRW moved back above 1120 after reaching a low of 1115 yesterday maybe due to North Korea launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine

Wall St. edges higher on tech, housing boost

U.S. stocks rose modestly on Tuesday, as gains in the tech sector helped buoy the Nasdaq to a record intraday high and solid housing market data provided more evidence the economy may be picking up momentum.

With the U.S. earnings season winding down, investors are also turning their focus to the likelihood of an interest rate hike in the coming months.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech on Friday at Jackson Hole will be scrutinized for clues on the timing of a rate hike, especially after some Fed policymakers in recent days hinted at the possibility of a hike in the near-term.

The meeting, which includes central bankers from across the world, will begin on Thursday and has traditionally been a platform for the Fed to signal the direction of monetary policy.
Read More at www.reuters.com