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FRIDAY MARKET SNAPSHOT (as at 8:25am AEDT)
- SPI200 (Mar) overnight futures down 13 pts to 6780
- SP500 down 1.38 pts to 3191.14
- NASDAQ up 4.38 pts to 8827.73
- Dow Jones down 27.88 pts to 28,239.28
- FTSE100 up 15.47 pts to 7540.75
- DAX30 down 65.67 pts to 13,222.16
- GOLD futures US Session (Feb Contract) down $1.00 to $1479.60 an ounce
- COPPER futures US Session (Comex Mar) down $0.003 to $2.811 a pound
- OIL futures US Session (Nymex Jan) up $0.03 to $60.97 a barrel
- CRB Index down 0.32 pts to 184.96
- AUDUSD trading at 0.6854
- EURUSD trading at 1.1116
- GBPUSD trading at 1.3082
- USDJPY trading at 109.6200
- USD Index US Session (ICE March) up 0.183 to 96.958
The US markets continue to hold onto the gains of the trade deal rally as major indexes were mixed. The action was well contained without any major swings as buyers and sellers seem happy with the state of the economy. Attention now turns to the Trump impeachment which the market has largely shrugged off for now. The US House of Representatives gears up for a historic vote later in the day on two charges accusing Trump of abusing his power and obstructing Congress. History suggests that the market has little to worry about and will continue along its merry way. The DOW closed down 0.10% while the broader SP500 was down 0.04% and the Nasdaq ended up 0.05%. In Europe, Indexes were mixed with the DAX again backing away from all time highs while the FTSE is happy to consolidate at the highs holding onto recent gains as many analysts believe the index to be under valued. Hard Brexit concerns kept the action contained as traders are not willing to go ‘risk on’ until the picture becomes clearer. Data showed that inflation in the Eurozone accelerated as expected in November thanks mainly to a rise in food prices.
Mounting support for the USD continues as US economic data suggests there is no more need for rate cuts anytime soon from the Fed Reserve. Traders are repositioning themselves long looking to take advantaged of the continued strength into US equities which is expected to continue into 2020. The EURO moved lower after failing at the highs around 1.1173 for a second time. Longer term buyers of the Euro will start to re-assess the action and look to lock away gains as the USD continues to gain strength. The GBP continued the move lower as traders digest the recent election win and try to work out whether the economy is heading for a hard Brexit or whether a deal will get done. The spike up on the election result is looking more like a short squeeze which would mean that price will need to reset before seeing new highs. The AUD managed to hold its ground overnight as the selling eased and price consolidated around 0.6850. We are watching to see if buyers can step back into the action to support price and push up to the 0.6920 zone. The USDJPY is putting in the ground work for a move up if the USD continues to adjust for stable interest rates and finds strength. Buyers are happy to hold the highs and are setting to put the squeeze on sellers for a move potentially through 109.720.
Gold was finding some buyers to edge higher through European trade but was knocked down coming into the start of the US session as buyers continue to find selling pressure up around the $1850 zone on the Spot market. The fear for Gold Bugs now is that sellers build a lower high to push prices down as a safe haven bid fails. Crude Oil initially saw some profit taking off the highs but then spiked to make back the losses as oil inventory data came in negative as expected and traders expect an uptick in demand next year as a trade deal filters through the market. Copper was heading lower through the Asian and European session but managed to rally off the lows through US trading into the close. Now that news on trade is out and price has adjusted higher, we expect to see some minor profit taking from buyers and for price to reset itself around highs.
Cryptocurrencies bounced back slightly overnight after an extended move down. Bitcoin is currently trading at $6952.8 up 4.69% while Ethereum is made back some ground and is at $128.50 up 3.79% and Ripple is trading at $0.19080 up 4.78%.
The ASX200 struggled all day yesterday to push into new highs as traders re-positioned portfolios on the last day of the SPI200 December futures contract. The open will be extended today for settlement prices of the futures rollover to the March contract so we may see a bit of volatility on the open. The index ended up only 4.1 points to 6851.4 yesterday with Utilities ended the strongest followed by the Healthcare and Energy sectors. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by 550 to 546 and 380 ended unchanged.
The ASX200 is expected to open down 10 points as the SPI200 was under selling pressure all night. We are watching for buyers to potentially step in after the extended open with sights set in new all time highs in the near term.
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ECONOMIC DATA OUT TODAY (AEDT)
NZD GDP and Trade Balance 8:45am
AUD Employment Change and Unemployment Rate 11:30am
JPY Monetary Policy Statement, Policy Rate and Press Conference Tentative
GBP Retail Sales 8:30pm
GBP MPC Official Bank Rate and Monetary Policy Statement 11pm
USD Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, Unemployment Claims and Current Account 12:30am
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SPI200 INTRADAY LEVELS TO WATCH
