Our comments and expectations
External backdrop. The S&P 500 opened higher yesterday, but then declined throughout the rest of the session and closed 0.3% below the previous level. A restraining factor for the market was ожидание публикации данных по инфляции. We remind you that, according to Bloomberg’s median forecast, the consumer price index in July will rise by 0.1% after a 0.4% decline in the previous month. Additional pressure on equities came from rising oil, which is approaching $90 per barrel for Brent amid a lack of results in talks between Iran and the U.S. At the same time, Iranian officials made it clear that Tehran and Oman may be close to an agreement, but it remains unclear whether such a deal will lead to the immediate and full opening of the strait. This morning in Asia, the tech-heavy Kospi is up 3.7%, as are Japan’s Nikkei 225 and China’s CSI 300. S&P 500 index futures are up 0.15%.
KASE Index. KASE reached all-time highs for the first time since April this year. The index has risen in 10 of the last 11 sessions, gaining about 4.4% since July 27. At the moment, the market is still maintaining momentum thanks to Kazatomprom and Kaspi shares.
Index constituents. Kazatomprom rose 2.5% yesterday, but is down 0.8% at today’s open. On the LSE, yesterday’s candle showed a number of features. First, quotes rose intraday to $74.4, but then fell to $72.5, where they closed. As a result, a bearish shooting star candle formed, which is a negative signal. At the same time, the quotes had previously broken through important resistance levels, so a possible correction may remain local. As for Kaspi, which rose 2.4% on KASE and 1.4% on Nasdaq, the picture here looks better than for Kazatomprom, although previously it was the other way around. We also note that for the second session in a row, the quotes are closing noticeably below intraday highs. Nevertheless, the shares are still at comfortable levels and near annual highs. In addition, on KASE today at the open, quotes continue to rise and are up 3.3%. On AIX, one of our most recent favorites, Solidcore, is up 1%. Gold has risen by just over 10% over the past two weeks, reaching its highest levels since June 5. CORE quotes are currently still in the observed uptrend and are at all-time highs. Bank CenterCredit shares are also showing some renewed activity today after previously pausing their advance.
Currency. The dollar is still not in a hurry to quickly give up ground against the tenge. At the end of yesterday’s session and at the beginning of the current one, we see that dollar buyers are still trying to hold the U.S. currency around 466 tenge. Buying is occurring when USDKZT quotes reach 464.3 tenge.