Market Updates 8/7/2019

ASX is looking for a lower opening with SPI currently down 12 points trading at 6678. This is on the back of negative closes in US & Europe on Friday. Dow Jones closed down 0.2%, S & P down 0.2% with Nasdaq down 0.1%. In Europe, FTSE down 0.7%, CAC down 0.5% with DAX closing down 0.5%.

 

In Commodities, Gold lost ground closing down 1.2% to US 1399.45  an ounce, Brent Oil up 1.5% to US 64.43 a barrel, US Oil up 0.3% to US 57.51 a barrel with Iron Ore losing more than 5.9% closing at US 114.81 a tonne. Iron Ore dropped sharply on Friday after Chinese steel mills requested a probe into this year’s price surge. Gold also lost some of its grounds after the June US jobs report was better than expected creating more than 224,000 new jobs vs market expectations of 160,000 giving Central Bank some rethinking of the next rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

 

US shares also dipped on Friday, as the S & P snapped a 3 day record closes following an unexpectedly strong US payrolls report that led investors to reassess the current stance the Federal Reserve may take at its next meeting. The Dow Jones average also fell 43.88 points to 26,922.12 and Nasdaq dropped 8.44 points to 8161.79.

 

In Europe, shares also broke a 6 day winning streak on Friday as poor German data and a downbeat outlook from Sweden’s Hexagon weighed in.

 

In Asia, HSI was down by less than 0.1% at 28,774.83. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.2% at 3011.06. The Nikkei shares ended the week higher at 0.2% to 21,746.38.

 

Australia shares are within striking distance of breaking record highs set more than 10 years ago as the combination of falling interest rates and resurgent commodity prices leads investors to defy an ominous warning about growth coming from the bond market. All Ordinaries index is 21 points off its record 6853.6 points level, and the S&P ASX 200 Index is 77 points off its record 6828.7 level. Both were set on November 1 2007 when the 10 year Australia government bond was yielding almost 6% and the cast rate was 6.5%. Today, the cash rate is 1% and 10 year government bond is yielding 1.28%, a fraction about its own record low set on June 26.

 

This week investors will be focusing on US Federal Chair Powell speaking and on Thursday US CPI numbers due out with marketing expecting a steady increase to 0.2% from 0.1% in May.

 

Please contact one of our specialists for further information and trading opportunities.

 

DATA RELEASES THIS WEEK:

 

Monday:

Nil

 

Tuesday:

USD – Fed Chair Powell Speaks

 

Wednesday:

GBP – GDP m/m & Manufacturing Production m/m

 

Thursday:

CAD – BOC Monetary Policy Report, BOC Rate Statement & Overnight Rate

USD – FOMC Meeting Minutes, CPI m/m & Core CPI m/m

 

Friday:

USD – Fed Chair Powell Testifies & PPI m/m