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U.S. indices lower on global growth fears
Indices in the United States dropped from record highs on Monday, as data released from China sparked fears that global growth was slowing.
As coronavirus cases began to surge in recent months, figures today showed that several key economic indicators in China failed to meet expectations.
The data showed that firstly retail sales for last month were 8.5% annualized, versus expectations of 11.5%, and down from June’s figure of 12.1%.
In addition to this, the country’s industrial production rate also missed forecasts, coming in at 6.4%in July, lower than expectations of a 7.8% reading.
All major U.S. indices were trading in the red as of writing.
UK house prices decline, FTSE 100 drops
Monday’s bearish sentiment translated to the United Kingdom, with the FTSE 100 closing lower as house prices fell for the first time this year.
According to figures from real estate giant Rightmove, house prices in Britain dropped by 0.3% from July to August, which was the first slip up in 2021.
This comes as the United Kingdom once again saw COVID-19 cases rise last month to their highest level since February, as a result of the highly contagious delta variant.
Many believe that we may see the impact of this more this week, as the UK gets set to release further economic data.
These will include employment change on Tuesday, inflation on Wednesday, and retail sales Friday.
GBPUSD fell to an intraday low of 1.3828 on the news.
Tesla stock fall as regulators launch investigations
Shares in Tesla were lower in today’s trading session, as regulators in the U.S. launched a formal investigation into recent accidents involving the electric vehicle.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today said it was investigating the company’s autopilot system, following a series of fatal crashes.
It was reported that around 17 people were substantially injured, with 1 dead driver in the last 3 years, from potential failures in the autopilot system.
It was explained by the NHTSA that, “Most incidents took place after dark and the crash scenes encountered included scene control measures such as first responder vehicle lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board, and road cones”.
The agency will now investigate to see if certain environments impact the use of the AP system.
Quote of the day – “Novice Traders trade 5 to 10 times too big. They are taking 5 to 10 percent risk, on a trade they should be taking 1 to 2 percent risk on.”
– Bruce Kovner
