ASX
An investor is reflected in a window as he looks at boards displaying stock prices and an advertisement for zero percent interest rate for purchasing a car at the Australian Securities Exchange in central Sydney, Australia, July 8, 2015. Reuters/David Gray
  • In US economic data, the budget deficit widened from $94.6 billion in June to $149.2 billion in July - the largest deficit for a July month in five years.
  • European shares recorded the biggest one-day fall in 2015 on Wednesday, after China allowed its currency to weaken further. Luxury goods retailers and automakers were amongst the worst performers. Only 37 stocks out of the 600 stocks on the STOXX Europe 600 were in positive territory. BMW lost 3.7%, Daimler gave back almost 5% and luxury-goods maker LVMH lost 5.5%. The FTSEurofirst 300 fell by 2.7% with the German Dax lower by 3.3% while the UK FTSE lost 1.4%. In London trade mining shares were mixed with BHP Billiton down by 0.4% and Rio Tinto was flat.
  • US sharemarkets recovered from early losses to end mostly flat on Wednesday. Energy stocks rebounded in mid-trade with the S&P Energy index gained 2%, as traders covered short positions. Apple, which was at one stage down 3.4% closed almost 1% higher. The S&P financial sector was one of the largest drags on the market, down 1.1%. The Dow Jones was flat after being down as much as 1.5%. The S&P 500 rose by 0.1% and the Nasdaq gained almost 8 points or 0.2%.
  • US treasury prices rose (yields lower) as China allowed the Yuan to move lower for a second day - increasing speculation that Fed policymakers will delay raising US interest rates. US 2 year yields fell by 2 points to 0.67% while US 10 year yields fell by 1 point to 2.15%.
  • Major currencies were mostly stronger against the greenback in the European and US session on Wednesday. The euro rose from lows near US$1.1075 to highs near US$1.1210, ending US trade at US$1.1165. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US72.50c to highs near US73.85c before ending US trade near US73.80c. And the Japanese yen strengthened from 124.95 yen per US dollar to JPY123.80 and ending US trade around JPY124.20.
  • World oil prices lifted off six-year lows on Wednesday, supported by the fall in US oil inventories. US crude stockpiles fell by 1.7 million barrels last week. Gasoline inventories also fell by 1.3 million barrels against expectations of a slide of 650,000 barrels. Brent crude rose by US48c or 1% to US$49.66 a barrel while US Nymex crude rose by US22c or 0.5% to US$43.30 a barrel.
  • Base metal prices were mixed on the London Metal Exchange. Nickel recorded the biggest fall down 1.4%. Zinc, lead and copper managed decent gains, up between 1.2-1.5%. The Comex gold futures price rose by US$15.90 or 1.4% to US$1,123.60 per ounce. Iron ore fell by US10c to US$55.80 a tonne.

Ahead: In Australia, Average weekly earnings are released. In the US, retail sales, import price index, and business inventories are released.

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