Tuesday's Markets Update (June 20, 2023)

21 Jun 2023 by rate3

On Tuesday, building permits increased to their highest level since October 2022, suggesting that the housing market is recovering. NASDAQ (o: 13,642, c: 13,667) drifted side-way while traders await Powell's comments this week. BTC (o: 26,851, c: 27,982) continued to rise, jumping an additional 4.2%, as whales stepped in to buy from an important resistance level.

Building permits rose 5.2% to 1.491 million in May 2023, surpassing market expectations. This was the highest level since Oct 2022, but still 12.7% below May 2022. Multi-segment approvals rose 5.9% to 594k, while single-family authorizations reached 10-month high of 897k. Permits grew in South (1.5% to 815k), West (6.0% to 353k), Midwest (7.5% to 187k) and Northeast (27.1% to 136k).

Other Markets Updates:

Japan: The manufacturers' sentiments improved in June, with the Reuters Tankan sentiment index rising to +8. It went up for textiles, oil refinery, food processing and auto industry. This is the second positive reading this year, and it suggests that the post-enclosure economic recovery is continuing.

China: The offshore yuan weakened to a seven-month low of 7.2 per dollar on Friday as investors grew pessimistic about the country's economic outlook despite the PBOC rate's recent cut. It was the weakest reading since November 2022. This comes after a number of major banks downgraded their growth forecasts for China this year. The PBOC set a weaker-than-expected daily fixing for the yuan, suggesting that authorities are comfortable with the currency's depreciation.