US stocks edged higher overnight with the S&P500 finishing up +0.15% in a quiet session to wave goodbye to July, US equities have now enjoyed their longest streak of monthly gains since August 2021 while the doomsday merchants remain very vocal but simply wrong. The S&P500 is hovering around its 16-month high with heavyweights Apple Inc (AAPL US) and Amazon (AMZN US) due to report in the coming days, elsewhere the $US and bond yields were little changed.
- We still believe the US stocks are poised to consolidate/correct their strong advance through 2023 although we recognise the trend is up.
Beijing has started to pull their stimulus levers and while it’s been targeted and relatively small so far we believe their intent is loud and clear. With Xi Jinping drawing a line in the sand when it comes to the world’s 2nd largest economy, we believe more market-friendly stimulus is just a matter of time.
- We are targeting a test of the 4500 as Beijing starts to support risk assets.