Obama’s speech last night was the headline event in an otherwise quiet overnight session.
- President Obama Delays Congressional Vote on Syria – This was expected after Syria’s acceptance of Russia’s offer to hand over its chemical weapons stockpiles. As a result, financial markets hardly reacted to the speech. No timetable was set for the negotiations with Russia over this agreement, but Syria is likely going to move from the front page to the back pages in the coming weeks.
- Asian Equity Markets Close Mixed – Quiet session overall. The Nikkei closed flat after nearly closing its July 25th gap at 14562.93 (the high of the day was 14561.46). The Hang Seng had a reversal early in the session after trading above 23,000 for the first time since May, but closed just 0.2% lower.
- No Apple Partnership with China Mobile Yet – As Chuck Jones at Forbes notes, Apple’s website only offers the iPhone 5C for China Telecom and China Unicom. That disappointment is likely the reason for AAPL’s weak open after 4 am EDT, as the shares opened down almost 2%, at $486.
- Verizon Prepares $45 Billion Bond Offering – The expected yield for the 10 year bonds is around 225 basis points over Treasuries, according to Bloomberg. I posted my thoughts on Monday on VZ stock and a potential trade idea given the VOD deal.
- Europe Opens Flat, Commodities and Bonds Green – The Euro Stoxx 50’s early morning high so far today (2854.94) is one point shy of its high for the year (2855.89) reached on August 14th. The 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield’s overnight high was around 2.98%, and is currently at 2.95%. Commodities are slightly higher for the most part.