Kaohoon Morning Brief – 27 August 2021

1) The market expects the U.S. Fed to start tapering asset purchases in October, reducing its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases in which the timetable will be used to speculate the rate hike.

 

2) U.S. jobless claims rose for the first time in five weeks to 353,000 from a pandemic low 349,000 a week earlier, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

 

3) U.S. investors have started cutting leverage for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic that rattled the market last year. In July. investors had borrowed $844 billion against their portfolios, decreased from a record $882 billion a month earlier. The borrow in July represents the lowest level since March

 

4) Carbon dioxide emissions from the global electric power sector soared past pre-Covid levels to record highs in the first half of this year, indicating a failure to achieve green energy. After a worldwide lockdown since last year, electricity demand and emissions are now 5% higher than the pre-pandemic level.

5) UK car production fell to the lowest level since 1956 as the ongoing semiconductor-shortage crisis continues and worker absences from the pandemic.