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OVERNIGHT MARKET SNAPSHOT FOR MONDAY 23/03/20
- SPI200 (Jun) overnight futures down 87 pts to 4708
- SP500 down 104.47 pts to 2304.92
- NASDAQ down 271.06 pts to 6879.52
- Dow Jones down 913.21 pts to 19,173.98
- FTSE100 up 39.17 pts to 5190.78
- DAX30 up 318.52 pts to 8928.95
- GOLD futures (June Contract) up $5.80 to $1488.10 an ounce
- COPPER futures (Comex May) down $0.034 to $2.152 a pound
- OIL futures US Session (Nymex May) down $3.28 to $22.63 a barrel
- CRB Index down 3.25 pts to 123.88
- AUDUSD trading at 0.5785
- EURUSD trading at 1.0688
- GBPUSD trading at 1.1629
- USDJPY trading at 110.9300
- USD Index US Session (ICE June) down 0.417 to 103.188
US Indexes were again knocked down from the open after the overnight futures market gave the bulls a false sense of hope for a positive session after they rallied futures prices through European trade. The New York Governor issued ‘stay at home’ orders which spooked the market Friday and more states followed suit over the weekend as the number of cases surged which is expected to lead to a rough start to the week. Fear continues to drive the markets at this stage as the virus continues to spread and the landscape changes rapidly. Australia announced Sunday night that they are taking steps to lock down the country and attempt to contain the spread of the virus and ‘flatten the curve’. On a positive note, the QLD Government has given a cash injection to fast-track a vaccine from University of Queensland scientists who are one of six groups worldwide to be tasked to develop a vaccine against COVID-19. The move is aimed at bringing forward a large-scale manufacture of the vaccine to run parallel with clinical trials. The DOW ended down 4.55% while the broader SP500 was also down 4.34% and the Nasdaq ended down 3.79% for the session. In Europe, stock Indexes managed to edge out some gains prior to the selloff in the US share market, as they found some buyers off longer term support levels. Traders will be hoping that the level can hold and the markets find some sort of rational mindset although this may be looking unlikely for now as the Global economy gets hit hard and data is yet to flow through to the market. The hope is that calm starts to filter through the bond and swap market which will flow on to stocks.
The USD Index rallied through the European session only to fall away off the previous highs late in US trade and into the close. The Dollar rally may finally be running into resistance after the coordinated effort from six major Central banks to enhance liquidity in the currency. The EURUSD was again squeezed lower as the USD rallied through the European session but then found buyers around previous lows at 1.0650 as the dollar fell back from highs. We will be watching for signs that buyers may be stepping into the action although given the US lockdown, it seems more likely that the Euro will extend the losses and continue lower. The GBPUSD is putting in an effort to stem the tide of selling although any rally will depend on the USD and stimulus starting to halt the rally. The AUDUSD continues to hold below the 0.6000 zone but off higher lows. The pressure is still on but many buyers were recently squeezed out the action with a push lower through 0.6000 support so we will watch to see if buying pressure can step up and put the squeeze on sellers now. The problem now is how much has been factored into the price with regards to economic slowdown. The USDJPY sold lower into the close as the dollar fell. Soon we expect to see some gains locked away but it may still be early days yet.
SPOT GOLD started to show some signs of life for the bulls as price rallied off the 1460 zone trading above 1500 for most of the European session as the precious metal regained some of its safe haven lustre. Price is looking set to hold a higher level at 1480 which will trigger buyers into action for a run to test 1540 and potentially above. Crude Oil was again hit hard ending down over 12% as the stock market pushed lower into the close. The commodity reacted up off the 22.30 area as intraday sellers were happy to lock in some gains into the weekend. Price is still under pressure holding major lower highs so we will need to see some work put in from the bulls to build the support. Copper also had a better session pushing up to higher levels through European trade before falling into the US close. There are buyers looking for higher levels to hold off major support around 2.000 so we will see if this form can continue.
Cryptocurrencies backed off slightly over the weekend as Bitcoin is currently trading at $6047.4 down 41.55%. Ethereum is at $127.36 down 6.11% and Ripple is trading at $0.15333 down 4.37%.
The ASX200 started the session on track for some solid gains but then drifted lower into the close to end up only 33.7 points to 4816.6 along way below the high of the day at 5016.1. The energy sector bounced 4.53% while Financials were up 3.56% while Healthcare stocks were hit to end down 5.33% for the session. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by 745 to 487 and 261 ended unchanged.
The ASX200 is expected to open down over 100 points as Australia goes into lockdown with schools in NSW and VIC going to the Easter holidays early.
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ECONOMIC DATA OUT TODAY (AEDT)
EUR German Buba Monthly Report Tentative
CAD Wholesale Sales 11:30pm
EUR Consumer Confidence 2aqm
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SPI200 INTRADAY LEVELS TO WATCH
