Looking to the data on hand, the New York Fed's "Empire" manufacturing index jumped to a reading of 12.08 in August from -0.55, marking the first expansion in activity since April 2008 and the biggest increase since November 2007. Adding to this, the latest TIC flows report showed that foreign demand for US long-term equities, notes and bonds rose a net $90.7 billion in June, which was much better than forecasts for a $17.5 billion increase and compared with net sales of $19.4 billion in May. A closer look at the data shows that net buying of Treasury notes and bonds totaled $100.5 billion, the most since records began in 1977, suggesting that the massive debt accumulated by the US government has yet to lead investors to question the safety of US assets.
According to Bloomberg News, the Commerce Department may report on Tuesday that US housing starts and building permits continued their rebound during the month of July. Indeed, housing starts are projected to have risen for the third straight month to an annual rate of 598K from 582K, while building permits are forecasted to have risen to 576K from an upwardly revised 570K. These will be some of the first housing-related indexes released for the month of July, and though it has a mixed history as a solid leading indicator, surprising results may be telling for subsequent new and existing home sales reports.
Check out the Daily Fundamentals in its entirety for a look at what happened across the majors.
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