The news shaping the markets today

Ukraine accused Russia of damaging two of its major gas pipelines to Europe. The news sent the safe-haven US dollar higher this morning.

Australia’s retail sales grew by 0.6% to a new record high of A$34.88 billion in August, following a 1.3% growth in July. However, the AUD/USD forex pair remained under pressure mainly due to the strength of the US dollar.

Kuwait’s annual inflation rate eased for the fourth consecutive month to 4.15% in August, from 4.24% in July. Despite this, the KWD/USD pair declined in forex trading this morning.

Qatar’s trade surplus widened to QAR 36.2 billion in August, from QAR 19.2 billion in the year-ago period. Although this was the biggest trade surplus since January 2014, the QAR/USD forex pair continued to be under pressure.

US crude oil stockpiles rose by 4.14 million barrels in the week ending September 23, versus a gain of 1.035 million barrels in the prior week. The US crude oil futures traded lower on the news.

What’s happening: Shares of BlackBerry Limited fell in after-hours trading on Tuesday, despite the company reporting a narrower-than-expected loss for its second quarter.

What happened: BlackBerry reported a decline in its overall revenues, which also came in short of market expectations.

However, revenues at one of its major segments recorded double-digit growth in the quarter.

How were the results: The Waterloo, Canada-based company reported a loss for the quarter that ended August 31.

• Total revenues declined 4% to $168 million, below the consensus estimate of $166.7 million.
• Excluding items, the company recorded a loss of 5 cents per share, narrower than market views of a loss of 7 cents per share.

Why it matters: BlackBerry released results for its second quarter on Tuesday, which showed a decline in cybersecurity revenues as a result of customers limiting their spending in an uncertain economic environment.

The Canadian firm’s security software division has also been facing stiff competition. The security software unit reported a 7.5% year-over-year decline in revenues to $111 million for the quarter. BlackBerry said it expects cybersecurity revenues to come in flat from a year ago in the ongoing third quarter.

Revenues at BlackBerry’s IoT (Internet of things) unit surged around 28% to $51 million and recorded an increase in the number of customers signing in the quarter.

“Our IoT business continues to gain market share, and design-phase revenue remained at near-record levels. We’re executing on our plan and we’re seeing the decisions made in recent quarters starting to pay off, with Cybersecurity ARR expected to resume growth early next fiscal year,” CEO John Chen said during the earnings call.

BlackBerry closed the quarter with cash and equivalents worth $699 million.

How shares responded: BlackBerry’s shares fell 2.6% to $4.96 in after-hours trading, following a 2.4% gain during the regular trading session. The stock has lost around 17% over the past month.

What to watch: Traders will keep an eye on developments at BlackBerry’s rivals, including Microsoft, IBM and Citrix Systems, Investors will also monitor the performance of the company’s security software unit.

The markets today

Gold will be in focus today after making a recovery on Tuesday

Context: The yellow metal, which has recently been under pressure, recovered some ground on Tuesday.

Details: Continuous strength in the US dollar and rising US Treasury yields have kept gold prices in check. Traders have continued to replace gold with major currencies in their portfolio, given the hawkish comments and aggressive monetary policy tightening by the leading central banks of the world.

Gold settled at its weakest level in two-and-a-half years on Monday, following a week in the red. However, the safe-haven asset climbed on Tuesday with some easing in the greenback’s recent rally. The ICE US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, fell as low as 113.33 during Tuesday’s session.

Although the US reported a 0.2% decline in durable goods orders for August, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index climbed to a five-month high of 108 in September.

Gold futures for December delivery gained $2.80, or 0.2%, to close at $1,636.20 per ounce on Tuesday. The yellow metal had closed Monday’s session at its weakest level since April 2020.

In other metals trading, silver futures for December delivery declined 14 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $18.337 per ounce, after rising as high as $18.785 earlier in the session. December copper fell 0.3%, to $3.2835 a pound. Palladium futures for December delivery gained around 2% to reach $2,090.40 per ounce, while platinum futures for October delivery settled at $846.90 per ounce, down 0.4%.

What to watch: Traders will continue assessing comments from Fed policymakers and monitor movements in the US dollar. The release of GDP growth figures from major economies will also remain in focus.

Other Markets: European trading indices closed lower on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100, DAX 40, CAC 40 and STOXX Europe 600 down by 0.52%, 0.72%, 0.27% and 0.13%, respectively.

Support & resistances for today

Market snapshot

What else to watch today

Denmark’s retail sales, Germany’s GfK consumer climate indicator, Norway’s household consumption and retail trade, Sweden’s retail sales, business confidence, consumer confidence and consumer inflation expectations, France’s consumer confidence index, Bank of Thailand’s interest rate decision, Austria’s manufacturing PMI, Italy’s consumer confidence and industrial sales, Switzerland’s CS-CFA Society Economic Sentiment Index, Ireland’s retail sales, US MBA mortgage applications, goods trade balance, wholesale inventories, pending home sales, crude oil inventories, gasoline stocks, distillate stockpiles and Fed’s Powell speech, Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy meeting minutes, Brazil’s Producer price inflation, value of loans and net payrolls, Saudi Arabia’s bank lending growth and money supply M3, Russia’s unemployment rate, Real wages, business confidence, corporate profits, industrial production and retail sales, as well as Bangladesh’s inflation rate.

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