周三，美国股指期货交易持平，略有上涨，投资者正在为备受期待的美联储降息做准备，这将是四年来的首次降息。市场对降息幅度仍存在分歧，目前降息50个基点的可能性超过60%。在周二的常规交易中，道琼斯指数下跌0.04%，标准普尔500指数微涨0.03%，纳斯达克综合指数上涨0.2%。医疗保健、消费必需品和房地产类股表现最差，而能源、非必需消费品和工业类股表现优于市场。在企业新闻方面，英特尔股价上涨2.7%，此前该公司宣布将根据《芯片和科学法案》获得高达30亿美元的资金，并宣布与亚马逊建立合作关系。与此同时，微软在宣布与贝莱德一起参与一个筹集高达1万亿美元用于开发人工智能数据中心和电力基础设施的集团后，在延长交易中受到冲击。

US stock futures traded flat to slightly positive on Wednesday as investors braced for the highly-anticipated rate cut from the Federal Reserve, which would be the first one in four years.Markets remain divided on the size of the reduction, with odds for an outsized 50 basis point cut currently standing above 60%. In regular trading on Tuesday, the Dow shed 0.04%, the S&P 500 inched up 0.03% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%. Healthcare, consumer staples and real estate stocks were the biggest laggards, while energy, consumer discretionary and industrial stocks outperformed the market. In corporate news, Intel jumped 2.7% after announcing that it would receive up to $3 billion in funding under the CHIPS and Science Act, as well as on news of a partnership with Amazon. Meanwhile, Microsoft was jolted in extended trading after announcing, along with BlackRock, their participation in a group to raise up to $1000 billion to develop data centers and power infrastructure for AI.

8月份对日本的进口同比增长2.3%，达到91371.8亿日元，未达到市场普遍预期的13.4%的增长，这是自3月以来最疲软的增长。

Imports to Japan increased by 2.3% yoy to JPY 9,137.18 billion in August, missing market consensus of a 13.4% surge and marking the weakest growth since March.

2024年8月，日本出口同比增长5.6%，达到84418.8亿日元，较7月的10.2%大幅放缓，低于市场预测的10%。尽管如此，这是出货量增长的第9个月。

Exports from Japan rose by 5.6% yoy to JPY 8,441.88 billion in August 2024, slowing sharply from a 10.2% jump in July and falling short of market forecasts of 10%. Still, it was the 9th month of increase in shipments.

2024年7月，日本核心机械订单（不包括船舶和电力公司的订单）环比下降0.1%，至8749亿日元，超出了市场预期的0.5%的增长，扭转了6月份2.1%的增长。这是今年迄今为止的第四次下降，制造业订单下降5.7%，至3984亿日元。跌幅最大的行业是化学和化工产品（-23%）、钢铁（-16.1%）和金属制品（-15.7%）。与此同时，非制造业订单增长7.5%，至4844亿日元，主要受采矿、石材和砾石采石（35.3%）、运输和邮政活动（35%）以及房地产（32.6%）增长的推动。按年度计算，7月份私营部门的机械订单增长了8.7%，而6月份下降了1.7%。

Japan's core machinery orders, which exclude those for ships and electric power companies, fell by 0.1% month-on-month to 874.9 billion yen in July 2024, defying market expectations for a 0.5% gain and reversing from a 2.1% rise in June. It was the fourth decline so far this year as orders for the manufacturing sector dropped 5.7% to 398.4 billion yen. Industries that saw the biggest declines were chemical & chemical products (-23%), iron & steel (-16.1%) and fabricated metal products (-15.7%). Meanwhile, orders for the non-manufacturing sector increased 7.5% to 484.4 billion yen, driven mainly by gains in mining, quarrying of stone & gravel (35.3%), transportation & postal activities (35%) and real estate (32.6%). On an annual basis, private-sector machinery orders grew by 8.7% in July, shifting from a 1.7% fall in June.