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OVERNIGHT MARKET SNAPSHOT FOR TUESDAY 31/03/20
- SPI200 (Jun) overnight futures up 66 pts to 5257
- SP500 up 88.18 pts to 2626.65
- NASDAQ up 271.77 pts to 7774.15
- Dow Jones up 690.70 pts to 22,327.48
- FTSE100 up 53.41 pts to 5563.74
- DAX30 up 183.45 pts to 9815.97
- GOLD futures (June Contract) down $11.90 to $1642.20 an ounce
- COPPER futures (Comex May) down $0.005 to $2.167 a pound
- OIL futures US Session (Nymex May) down $1.18 to $20.33 a barrel
- CRB Index down 2.20 pts to 121.69
- AUDUSD trading at 0.6169
- EURUSD trading at 1.1048
- GBPUSD trading at 1.2419
- USDJPY trading at 107.9000
- USD Index US Session (ICE June) up 0.576 to 99.113
US Indexes rallied to start the new week and made back some of Fridays losses as traders went bargain hunting. Healthcare stocks were the main focus of the session as traders searched for stocks that may benefit from the virus. Pending home sales in the US unexpectedly rose which helped to support the rally as buyers took advantage of low rates. Central banks in China and Singapore also joined the stimulus party by cutting key interest rates. Continued global stimulus and efforts to stem the tide of the virus spread is having a positive effect on investor sentiment. Virus news flow out of China and Italy has improved although it is not the same for the UK or US as traders are waiting to see a peak in infections otherwise further brutal selloffs may still be on the cards. The DOW finished up 3.19% while the broader SP500 was also up 3.35% and the Nasdaq ended up 3.62% for the session. In Europe, stock Indexes reversed earlier losses and followed Asias lead to push higher into the close. Many traders now are expecting a short term bounce on the back of bargain hunting but will continue to be mindful of the spreading coronavirus. Traders main focus was in the defensive sector although energy names also gained slightly even as oil continued lower.
The USD Index rallied from the Asian session open in a move that continued through to the end of the US session as short term buyers locked in some gains. The rally was supported by end of month portfolio rebalancing and a continued nervousness surrounding the virus with the recent run up in the dollar fresh on traders minds. The continued demand for hard-dollar cash may see further buying pressure in the near term. The EURUSD fell on the USD buying and may be set to continue lower to squeeze out further buyers if price trades down through 1.1000. The GBPUSD held up well against the rally in the USD which suggests that buyers are looking for a break up through 1.2500. The AUDUSD also held up well in the face of dollar buying as positive sentiment in stocks helped the commodity currency. The Aussie held the 0.6020 zone as expected and now looks set to continue higher if price can break up through 0.6185. The Aussie is more linked to stock market sentiment than the USD at this stage. The USDJPY followed the move in the dollar but does look like price is consolidating the lows suggesting another run up.
SPOT GOLD continued to see range bound choppy action as buyers and sellers are content with price holding between the 1612 and 1640 zone for now. Price can not remain dormant for long so expect a move out of the range soon….the question remains up or down. Crude Oil remains under fire as the combination of a weaker global economy and the Saudi and Russia standoff pressures demand as storage facilities are expected to be overwhelmed in the coming months. Copper continued to edge lower although price is showing growing signs of holding key lows.
Cryptocurrencies had a good session to make back some of the weekends losses. Bitcoin is currently trading at $6442.6 up 7.56% while Ethereum is at $133.59 up 5.83% and Ripple is lagging a little and is at $0.17292 up 4.76%.
The ASX200 started the week with a bang yesterday to make back a lot of the losses from Fridays session. We suspect it is a bit of end of the quarter window dressing and bargain hunting as the Index ended up 339 points or 7% to 5181.4. Again there was a 100 points added in the final match at 4:10pm and all sectors ended in the green with Healthcare leading the charge, up 11.42%, followed by Financials and then Consumer Discretionary stocks being the next best performers. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by 712 to 456 and 246 ended unchanged.
The ASX200 is expected to open up 70 points after a positive night in Europe and the US.
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ECONOMIC DATA OUT TODAY (AEDT)
JPY Unemployment Rate 10:30am
JPY Industrial Production and Retail Sales Data 10:50am
NZD Business Confidence 11am
CNY Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing PMI 12pm
EUR German Import Prices 5pm
GBP Current Account 5pm
EUR German Unemployment Change 6:55pm
EUR CPI Data 8pm
USD Chicago PMI 12:45am
USD Consumer Confidence 1am
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SPI200 INTRADAY LEVELS TO WATCH
