Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Overnight

The Nikkei 225 dropped  1.5% in early trading Thursday to 16,359.28 approaching a three week low as investors continue to fret about central bank policy ahead of next week's Bank of Japan meeting September 20-21.

One possibility troubling investors is the prospect to the bank cutting rates further into negative territory as  it's beginning to dawn on many that central banks in general and the BOJ in particular are running out of monetary rabbits to pull out their top hats. At some point it's possible investors will decide these banker don't know what they're doing and then what.

 In other markets, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.2% lower but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.6%. Elsewhere, South Korea, China and Taiwan were closed for a public holiday. The yen moved higher,0.2%, against the dollar spreading some pain through exporters.

The Federal Reserve will also be holding meetings next week, still another reason for some of these markets to tread water. The session in Asia followed a mixed finish in the U.S. on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing down 31.98 points, or 0.18 percent, at 18,034.77. The S&P 500 index slipped 1.25 points, or 0.06 percent, to end at 2,125.77, while the Nasdaq gained 18.52 points, or 0.36 percent, to 5,173.77, one news outlet reported.

Oil prices rebounded slightly despite news that Libya and Nigeria were set to ramp up production, as the end of troubles there are set to increase production and ramp up supply. The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, was last up 0.4% at $46.04 a barrel. Looking to next week investors will be watching closely U.S. retail sales for August out Thursday, but those numbers would have to be stellar many believe to affect the Fed's mood enough to kick up rates.

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