New Zealand’s current account deficit narrowed to NZD 1.11 billion in the second quarter of 2019 from NZD 1.67 billion a year earlier to practically match expectations of a NZD 1.12 billion gap. The goods account surplus widened to NZD 0.95 billion from NZD 0.27 billion a year ago. In contrast, the services account surplus narrowed to NZD 0.57 billion from NZD 0.96 billion. Meantime, the primary account deficit narrowed to NZD 2.35 billion from NZD 2.82 billion, whereas the secondary account shortfall widened to NZD 0.28 billion from NZD 0.09 billion. The 12-month gap widened to NZD 10.23 billion from NZD 9.33 billion for the previous period.

The economy of Uruguay grew 0.1 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2019, following an upwardly revised 0.3 percent contraction in the previous period. GDP rebounded immediately following the first contraction since the last quarter of 2015, mainly nudged by further growth in transport & communications (+5.5 percent vs +5.1 percent in Q1) and a rebound in primary activity (+0.9 percent vs -0.5 percent). Also, utilities kept expanding above average despite a sharp deceleration in Q2 (+3.5 percent vs +12.5 percent). Meanwhile, manufacturing (-1.9 percent vs -2.6 percent) and construction (-4.7 percent vs -3.5 percent) extended declines.

Wall Street closed modestly in the green on Tuesday, as oil prices declined following their biggest increase ever for a single session. Crude prices plunged on reports that Saudi Arabia may soon restore most of the output lost in the attacks to Aramco’s facilities. On the trade policy front, President Trump said the US and Japan have reached an initial trade agreement over tariffs, nudging Asia-exposed equities. On the corporate side, US prosecutors described JPMorgan’s metals trading desde as a criminal enterprise, raising uncertainty over the investigation of price fixing and sending bank shares lower. The Dow Jones edged up 33 points or 0.1%. The S&P 500 added 8 points or 0.3%. The Nasdaq climbed 33 points or 0.4%.

Overseas investors bought USD 43.8 billion of US assets, including short-dated instruments in July 2019, after buying an upwardly revised USD 21 billion in June while markets had forecast a purchase of USD 9 billion. Foreign investors bought USD 84.3 billion of long-term US securities, including government and corporate, after buying an upwardly revised USD 100.6 billion in the previous month. Foreign investors bought USD 11 billion of US treasuries, after selling USD 7.7 billion in June.

European shares closed mostly in the red on Tuesday, as oils prices slumped on expectations that Saudi Arabia would be able to produce at normal levels faster than expected and as investors await policy decisions from the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England. The DAX 30 lost 8 points, or 0.1% to 12,373; the FTSE MIB slid 167 points, or 0.8% to 21,802; and the IBEX 35 went down 48 points, or 0.5% to 9,004; while the CAC 40 edged up 13 points, or 0.2% to 5,615 and the FTSE 100 finished near the flat line at 7,320.

Saudi Arabia’s TASI stock index fell 0.7 percent to 7,771 on Tuesday, with petrochemical stocks among the worst performers, led by Saudi Basic Industries (-3.2%) amid oil shortages. Meanwhile, other Middle East markets closed mostly lower: the Dubai’s DFMGI lost 1% to 2,850, led by Emaar Properties (-3%) and Dubai Islamic Bank (-0.9%), after a Reuters pool showed house prices are expected to fall sharply until 2021; the Qatar’s QSI retreated 0.4% to 10,471; the Egypt’s EGX 30 slid 1.5% to 14,752, with Commercial International Bank 0.5% down and Qalaa Holdings 7.9% lower; the Bahrain’s BAX dropped 0.7% to 1,514; the Oman’s MSI slipped 0.2% to 4,0001; and the Kuwait’s BKP went down 0.5% to 6,070; while the Abu Dhabi’s ADI rose 0.2% to 5,171.

The NAHB Housing Market Index in the United States increased slightly to 68 in September 2019 from an upwardly revised 67 in the previous month and beating market expectations of 66. The sub-index for current single-family rose to 75 from 73 in August and the sub-index for prospective buyers held steady at 50; while the gauge for home sales over the next six months edged down to 70 from 71.

Oil prices slumped 5% on Tuesday, after Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia's oil production will restore to normal levels in the next two to three weeks, faster than initially thought. On Monday, oil prices rallied at one of the fastest paces on record following a drone attack on the country's oil facilities during the weekend. The US crude oil fell 6.9% to $58.6 a barrel and Brent slid 7.4% to $63.9 around 02:00 PM New York time.

The Swedish crown fell against the dollar and the euro on Tuesday, amid fears of an economic slowdown after data from Statistics Sweden showed unemployment rate rose by 1 percentage points from a year earlier to 7.1 percent in August. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate went up to 7.4 percent in August from 7.1 percent in July. The SEK decreased 0.6% to USD 9.71 and declined 0.7% to EUR 10.70 around 11:15 am London time.