Markets Pin Hopes On Big Fed Rate Cut

Speculation about the size of the widely expected Fed rate cut dominated sentiment across regions and asset classes. Decisions by the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England as well as the Bank of Japan are scheduled for the week.

The CME Group’s closely monitored FedWatch Tool that tracks the expectations of interest rate traders now places a 65 percent chance of a half-point cut and a 35 percent probability on a quarter-point easing by the Federal Reserve.

Wall Street Futures are trading in mildly positive territory. European benchmarks are trading on a positive note. Asian stock indexes however finished trading on a mixed note.

Dollar Index decreased further with renewed rate cut hopes. Bond yields are trading in a mixed fashion. Crude oil prices declined amidst renewed concerns about faltering Chinese demand. Gold prices weakened after rate cut expectations lifted gold prices to a record high on Monday. Cryptocurrencies are trading mixed.

Here is a snapshot of the major world markets at this hour.

Stock Indexes:

DJIA (US30) at 41,725.40, up 0.25%
S&P 500 (US500) at 5,651.10, up 0.32%
Germany’s DAX at 18,809.15, up 0.97%
U.K.’s FTSE 100 at 8,343.14, up 0.78%
France’s CAC 40 at 7,514.50, up 0.87%
Euro Stoxx 50 at 4,874.65, up 0.97%
Japan’s Nikkei 225 at 36,204.50, down 1.03%
Australia’s S&P ASX 200 at 8,140.90, up 0.24%
China’s Shanghai Composite at 2,704.09, down 0.48% (Sep 13)
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng at 17,660.02, up 1.37%

Currencies:

EUR/USD at 1.1138, up 0.05%
GBP/USD at 1.3219, up 0.02%
USD/JPY at 140.66, up 0.05%
AUD/USD at 0.6763, up 0.17%
USD/CAD at 1.3586, up 0.01%
Dollar Index at 100.64, down 0.13%

Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:

U.S. at 3.624%, up 0.00%
Germany at 2.1115%, down 0.40%
France at 2.826%, down 0.04%
U.K. at 3.7735%, up 0.36%
Japan at 0.827%, up 0.12%

Commodities:

Brent Oil Futures (Nov) at $72.44, down 0.43%.
Crude Oil WTI Futures (Nov) at $68.80, down 0.32%.
Gold Futures (Dec) at $2,599.00, down 0.38%.

Cryptocurrencies:

Bitcoin at $59,065.05, up 0.82%
Ethereum at $2,313.48, up 0.73%
BNB at $540.64, down 1.05%
Solana at $132.96, up 1.34%
XRP at $0.5875, up 2.98%.