U.S. housing starts expanded to the highest level in nearly 8 years to 1.21 million annualized units with positive revisions in June. This is on top of last week's strong retail sales as well as employment numbers.
The strength in these fundamentals bolsters the U.S. dollar which is about the last thing that emerging markets, in particular China, need right now. Overnight, China's Shenzhen A-shares collapsed by nearly 7 percent, its devaluation is the recognition that China has a serious growth problem.
"China growth problems are crushing commodities, which adds to the pressure on emerging currencies from Asia to Latin America and alas, even the U.S. energy sector is not immune", says Voya Global.
