U.S. equities retreated for the third straight day

U.S. stocks closed lower on Tuesday for a third straight day as strong labor-market data suggest, Fed Reserve will continue with its aggressive pace of interest rate-hikes. Data showed U.S. job openings rose to 11.2 million in July, up from a revised 11 million previous month. Also, the Conference Board’s consumer-confidence index jumped to 103.2 in August from a July readings of 95.3. Subsequently, Dow Jones declined 1% to finish at 31,790.87, S&P 500 declined 1.1% to finish at 3,986.16 while Nasdaq 100 declined 1.1% to finish at 11,883.14. The 10-year yield Treasury rose marginally from 3.1024 to 3.107%. Gold spot price declined $15.80 to $1,733.90 per ounce while WTI crude oil futures for October fell 5.5% to $91.64 per barrel.

Gazprom has suspended natural gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline for three days. According to the Russian gas holding it won’t ship any gas to Germany because of maintenance. Spot gas prices are growing by more than 9%, approaching the mark of $3,000 per 1,000 m3 on TTF.

Russian equities market has gained slightly this Wednesday morning with IMOEX up 1.35% to 2,375. The main trigger for growth here is Gazprom, which Board of Directors recommended paying dividends for H1 of 2022 in the amount of 51.03 rubles per share. The company can allocate 1.2 trillion rubs in total for dividends for the first half of this year. Russian ruble lost slightly this morning both against US Dollar and EUR, with USDRUB up 0.51% to 60.24 and EURRUB up 0.67% to 60.27.

SSA opens broadly tilted towards the upside as rates reverse yesterday’s selling. Oilers had especially borne the brunt on Tuesday as Brent shed as much as 7% into the close. GHANA (-3.125) led losses with 2034 and longer issues trading sub-40 while ANGOL (-2.75) and NGERIA (2.125) also surrendered a brief mid-session retrace. GHANA (-.125) continues weaker while ANGOL (+.125) and NGERIA (+.125) look to recover.