The Opening Belle

October 23, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Markets have meandered in pretty tight ranges overnight.  

 European Opening Calls:#FTSE 5803 +0.30%#DAX 12587 +0.35%#CAC 4867 +0.31%#AEX 556 +0.25%#MIB 19147 +0.37%#IBEX 6819 +0.33%#OMX 1822 +0.33%#STOXX 3181 +0.31%#IGOpeningCall— IGSquawk (@IGSquawk) October 23, 2020 

Overnight, the debate was obviously the main talking point.

Reuters offer six 'takeaways' but there wasn't much to get excited about.

The debate was  "less chaotic" and from a quick media scan this morning the main potential talking point is this;

During a segment on climate change, Biden said his environmental plan would “transition from the oil industry” in favor of renewable energy sources, prompting Trump to go on the attack.

“He is going to destroy the oil industry,” Trump said. “Will you remember that, Texas? Will you remember that, Pennsylvania?”

This is the clip.

 Trump: "Would you close down the oil industry?"

Biden: "I would transition from the oil industry, yes."

Trump: "That's a big statement."

Biden: "That is a big statement."#Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/OsleHmpuse— The Hill (@thehill) October 23, 2020 

The question is whether this will actually sway any voters.

It's not exactly a secret.

Nothing really jumped out that could change the overall course of the election.

Nor the course of the markets. Chris Weston (Pepperstone) commented;

“People are just closing out longs ahead of the election just in case Biden isn’t (elected).

We’re coming into that eye of the storm now where it takes a bit of a brave soul to put on new positions ahead of the election.

Most of the flow will probably be either really short term or people massaging big exposures.”

Indices are already in a holding pattern.

7 trading days left until the election.

Japan are still struggling with inflation

Japan’s core consumer prices slipped for the second consecutive month in September, a sign that a coronavirus-induced demand downturn is piling deflationary pressure on the world’s third-largest economy already blighted by recession.

“The declines in August and September were caused largely by the government’s travel discount campaign,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

“Weak service-sector demand could exert further downward pressure on prices at least until the coronavirus is contained.”

The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food but includes energy, fell 0.3% in September from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday. That compared with a median market forecast for a 0.4% decline.

When stripping away the effect of the government’s travel discount campaign, core consumer prices were flat in September from a year earlier, the data showed.

No dramas from PBoC on the USDCNY fix

China's foreign exchange regulator said the yuan has been more stable than expected, suggesting authorities are not too worried about its recent rise.

 PBoC Fixes USDCNY Reference Rate At 6.6703 (prev fix 6.6556 prev close 6.6850)— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) October 23, 2020 

Your daily stimulus update

 đźš¨đźš¨Some COVID RELIEF NEWS from me and @BresPolitico:

On a leadership call today, @SpeakerPelosi said Dem lawmakers are telling her they DONT want a pre-election vote on a potential covid relief bill unless the Senate is going to take it up before the election— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 22, 2020 

Pelosi said the two sides remain apart on liability protection for businesses and on aid to state and local governments but have narrowed their differences on healthcare and have come to terms on direct payments to American individuals and families.

The main sticking points have not been resolved, and the messages are very mixed.

On the calendar

UK retail sales up first, and then it's a day of PMI's.

The headline numbers will lead the way (beat or miss), but the sub-components are usually more significant.

That said, no-one will be making any longer term decisions on the back of today's releases when the main event is just around the corner.

They may stoke a little volatility to trade around.

No (scheduled) central bank speakers today.