ASX 200 futures: +0.2%
Australian dollar: flat at 69 US cents
Wall Street: Dow -0.7% S&P -0.2% Nasdaq +0.04%
Europe: Dax -0.4% FTSE -0.2%
Spot gold: +0.18% to $US2681.80/ounce
Brent crude: -2.13% to $US73.57/barrel
Iron ore: +1.8% to $US97.40/tonne
Bitcoin: -1.5% to $US63,322
Price current around 7:00am AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
One of Australia’s most lucrative exports is rising in market value, after stimulus measures announced in China.
Iron ore rose 1.8% overnight to $97.40 a tonne. ANZ notes that this is an ongoing rally on hopes Chinese demand will continue.
“The steel making raw material threatened to break above USD100/t for the first time in a month after Beijing unveiled a broad suite of measures to support its economy,” they note.
“In addition to the RRR cut and lower minimum downpayment requirement for second homes announced on Monday, yesterday saw the PBOC cut its one-year interest rate by 30bps.
“The market will now be watching for signs that the measures are translating into a real pick‑up in demand for steel and iron ore.
“However, that may still be some way off with unsold inventory likely to delay any resumption in construction activity.”
You can read more on the stimulus measures announced in China in this ABC News story. Some economists are sceptical about the announcements and say more measures are needed.
CBA’s just noted in its morning currency wrap about how the AUD fell against the USD overnight, as the greenback got about 0.7% stronger. US Treasury yields also rose.
“There was no obvious catalyst for the moves,” they add. Maybe it’s just the vibe of the thing?
Meanwhile, CBA points out that jobless claims will be closely watched in the United States overnight (our time). The Fed’s chair and its vice are also speaking around the same time.
“We expect neither to push back against the positive market reaction to the outsized 50bp interest rate cut.”
Good morning!
Emilia here with you until 11am AEST.
US markets were rising for days after the world’s biggest economy got its first rate cut of the cycle. But now the two big indexes have ended down, with car stocks Ford and General Motors a drag on the S&P and Dow Jones.
Here in Australia, some economists (and the shadow treasurer) say we’re “no closer to a rate cut” than we were on Tuesday, after the release of monthly inflation data on Wednesday showed core inflation is still above the RBA’s target range of 2-3%.
You can watch more about the core vs headline inflation debate in this TV story of mine about the data from last night.
As always, let me know if you’d like anything looked at today?
