Written on: September 1, 2026
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Energy futures are rallying on the first day of September as reports surface that two oil supertankers being attacked in the Persian Gulf. Bloomberg News reports that two supertankers were struck by projectiles while attempting to exit the Strait of Hormuz. Tensions remain high following yesterday’s clashes between the US and Iran.
Market traders are looking ahead to the final August US Manufacturing PMI, the ISM Manufacturing Index, US construction spending data and to the US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for further direction.
China’s RatingDog Manufacturing PMI for August came in at 51.5, up from a 50.9 reading the month prior and higher than the 51.0 expectation. In India, the HSBC Manufacturing PMI for August was finalized at 52.8, just below the 52.9 flash estimate. Asian stock markets closed lower overnight as the Nikkei in Japan shed 0.15%, the Shanghai Composite edged down 0.16%, and as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.93% lower. In European economic news, the final August S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for France (51.1) and the Eurozone as a whole (52.7) came in below their respective flash readings of 51.5 and 52.8. The indexes for Germany (54.3) and the UK (51.7), however, came in above the 54.1 and 51.5 flash estimates, respectively. Back in the unsupportive column, retail sales in Germany tumbled 3.4% lower month-on-month in July, against forecasts calling for a 0.5% monthly uptick in sales. Moreover, the unemployment rate throughout the Eurozone held steady at an upwardly-revised rate of 6.4% in July, missing expectations calling for a 0.1pp decline in unemployment. Meanwhile, the preliminary Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the Eurozone rose by 3.3% year-on-year in August, as expected. Narrow core prices are seen up 2.4% year-on-year, below the 2.5% consensus. The French CAC 40 was down 0.2% this morning, the UK FTSE 100 had lost 0.5%, and the German DAX had dropped 0.9% lower.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is tracking Tropical Storm Edouard as it travels west-northwestward towards the Texas coast in the Gulf of America. The NHC expects Edouard to approach hurricane strength before it reaches land later today.