Pretty GREEN out there!

• Hong Kong: Hang Seng closed up +1.95%!!
• China CSI 300    +1.00%
• Taiwan KOSPI    +0.34%
• India Nifty 50    +0.24%
• Australia ASX    +0.45%
• Japan Nikkei     -0.23%
• European bourses in positive territory so far this morning
• USD +0.08%

TOP STORIES OVERNIGHT

China Banks to Cut Rates on Mortgages, Deposits in Stimulus Push-BBG

China’s state banks are throwing nearly all they have at seeking to boost consumer spending, directed by policymakers who are digging deeper into their toolkit to shore up growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

As soon as Tuesday, China may announce that the big state-owned banks are cutting rates on the majority of the nation’s 38.6 trillion yuan ($5.3 trillion) of existing mortgages, according to people familiar with the matter. The reductions will only affect loans on first homes, according to two of the people.

At the same time, lenders such as Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and China Construction Bank Corp. are poised to later this week cut deposit rates for a third time in a year to shore up their plunging margins.

The move would be the latest piecemeal step rolled out by Beijing as authorities try to spur consumer spending, drive more funds into the stock market and alleviate pressure on lenders.

China markets up on this

Chevron’s Australia LNG ops could face daily 10-hr stoppages as union fight escalates -Reuters

Chevron’s (CVX.N) two major liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities in Australia could face daily work stoppages of up to 10 hours next week after unions on Tuesday threatened labour action in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone projects account for more than 5% of global LNG capacity, and news of the possible strikes sent European natural gas prices surging.

Workers at Gorgon and Wheatstone downstream facilities plan to stop work for seven hours in two blocks on Sept. 7, escalating to 10 hours on Sept. 8 and 11 hours on Sept. 9, according to a document on the planned actions reviewed by Reuters.

A smaller stoppage of three hours is planned at the Wheatstone production platform from Sept. 7, said the document, which details work disruptions out to Sept. 14.

Giving a boost to gas prices globally

Indian rice shipments of 500,000 tons postponed after new duty- exporters -Reuters

India’s move to impose a 20% duty on exports of parboiled rice has prompted buyers and sellers to postpone shipments of around 500,000 metric tons to after mid-October to avoid paying the tax, three leading exporters told Reuters on Tuesday.

The delay in shipments from the world’s biggest exporter of rice could deplete inventories in importers such as Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Liberia, and boost local prices in those countries, which are already near multi-year highs.

India, which is scrambling to rein-in inflation ahead of state elections later this year, on Friday expanded curbs on rice exports with a 20% duty on parboiled rice that would be effective until Oct. 15.

“Buyers are postponing the shipments; nobody is willing to pay the duty,” said Himanshu Agarwal, executive director at Satyam Balajee, an exporter.

Mortgage Rates at 7% Are Making Everything Worse for US Homebuyers-BBG

Deals are cooling further, with loan applications for purchases falling last week to the lowest level in almost three decades. Many buyers are locking in rates now, afraid to wait and risk getting caught in the next upsurge. And tight inventory is bringing the opposite of what typically happens in a real estate downturn: Even as sales fall, prices are climbing.

It all adds up to a prolonged freeze that’s leaving buyers, sellers and the mortgage industry in a state of limbo heading into the fall, a time transactions typically pick up from the summer doldrums. House hunters are left fighting for scraps of anything they can buy, and mortgage costs, which have climbed along with Treasury yields as traders try to gauge the Federal Reserve’s next moves, are upending calculations on what borrowers can afford.

Very strange what is happening in this market

2 incoming hurricanes: Idalia and Franklin

Idalia is expected to intensify into an extremely dangerous major hurricane before landfall along the west coast or Big Bend region of Florida on Wednesday

Franklin Remains a Formidable Category 4 Hurricane. Life-Threatening Surf and Rip Currents Ongoing Along The Southeast United States Coastline and Expected to Spread Up the Eastern Seaboard

STAY SAFE EVERYONE!

US DATA TODAY