Risk assets put on a brave face as China slows

US equities are near-flat on the day in a big improvement from the -30 point decline in pre-market futures. It’s another sign of the resilience of buyers.

It hasn’t been an easy day for the bulls as China was hit with a round of terrible economic data. That was coupled with a 10 bps rate cut and the market could be taking that as a sign of a backstop but 10 bps isn’t much to catch a falling property knife.

After the China data, the US numbers were just as bad. The Empire Fed was one of the worst ever and a gigantic miss on expectations while home builder sentiment continues to free fall.

Despite all that, the mood is steadily improving.

Normally, I would run with that kind of price action but it’s August 15 — right in the middle of summer holidays. I remember back to Aug 2018 and markets were chugging along, happy to ignore all the growing stress in credit markets. It’s a time of year that lends itself to complacence.

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