Talking Points:

• S&P 500 Futures are slowly recovering from their weekly lows, but stumble in the early session today.
• Despite Republican opposition, the US President is adamant about extending the debt ceiling.
• Although headlines suggest a lull in geopolitical/trade tensions between China and the United States, risks to China’s financial markets remain.
• Following firmer data, the US Federal Reserve Bank’s (Fed) tapering tantrum intensifies, with the US ADP Employment Change being watched.

S&P 500 Futures are hovering around an intraday low, down 0.25 % today around 4,325 in the early trading session.

Before the Republicans wrecked expectations with their firm stance against President Joe Biden’s ideas, the risk barometer raised hopes of passing the US stimulus package and extending the US debt ceiling.

Despite the GOP’s refusal, US President Biden remains hopeful that the US debt ceiling will be raised before the 18th of October deadline. President Biden said, “A carve-out of the filibuster for the debt limit is a real possibility.”

The reason for hesitation could be due to the recent shift in Republican leaders’ tone, as well as the global credit rating firm Moody’s maintaining the US credit rating.

Alternatively, the announcement of the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) probe into China’s import exclusion, combined with US President Biden’s phone chat with his Chinese counterpart and willingness to honour the Taiwan deal, has kept bulls upbeat.

It’s worth noting that the Fed tapering talk gained traction following stronger US PMIs and hawkish remarks from Fed members, which bolstered US Treasury yields while impacting on stock futures.

In this current climate, the US Dollar Index (DXY) maintains the previous day’s gains around the 94.00 level at the time of publishing.

Up next the traders and investors will be watching out for any risk triggers and the US ADP Employment Change for September for new impetus ahead of Friday’s US Nonfarm Payrolls report (NFP).