MARKET SNAPSHOT (7:15am AEST)-
- SPI200 overnight futures down 26 pts to 6143
- SP500 down 13.49 pts to 2713.22
- NASDAQ down 65.01 pts to 7502.67
- FTSE100 up 45.44 pts to 7593.29
- DAX30 up 110.97 pts to 12349.14
- GOLD futures up $12.30 to $1254.00 an ounce
- COPPER futures down $2.05 to $292.35 a pound
- OIL futures up $0.34 to $74.28 a barrel
- CRB Index down 0.02 pts to 197.48
- AUDUSD trading at 0.7385
- EURUSD trading at 1.1658
- GBPUSD trading at 1.3192
- USDJPY trading at 110.5700
The US closed lower as trade concerns continued and recent gains were booked ahead of the 4th of July holiday. The DOW was down 132.36 points or 0.54% with the SP500 down 0.49% and the Nasdaq down 0.86%. China is pressing the EU for an alliance on trade issues against the US as they attempt to take advantage of divisions between the US and the EU although their promise to open up the Chinese economy to EU investment may be fleeting. In Europe shares pushed higher from the open after a breakthrough over migration which had threatened to topple Merkel’s fragile coalition government. Fears of a trade war continued to keep markets in check and buyers from being overly enthusiastic.
Cryptocurrencies managed to hold onto highs as Bitcoin currently trades at $6612.4 down 0.62% while Ethereum is at $469.31 down 2.24% and Ripple is trading at $0.49554 up 0.29%.
The USD index was lower as traders squared up positions to close out recent gains ahead of the US bank holiday. Trade tensions eased as sentiment improved after the Chinese Central Bank said that they would seek to keep the yuan at a stable and reasonable level. This helped to calm a nervous foreign exchange market ahead of the July 6th deadline. The EUR, the GBP and the AUD were all stronger on the USD weakness.
Gold finally managed to rally as technical buyers stepped up to the plate spurred on by a fall in the USD. Copper continued to edge lower and seems content to wait to see how the July 6th deadline plays out with trade between the US and China. Oil rallied to add minor gains and supported global energy stocks.
Locally, the RBA kept interest rates on hold at 1.50% and said that they expect this accommodative stance to continue for some time into the future. The ASX200 had a rather subdued start but then managed to grind out gains through the session. Banks bounced to end the day higher and help push the market into positive teritory. Materials pressured the market as traders remaining concerned over demand from China. Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 702 to 504 and 347 ended unchanged.
The ASX200 is expected to open down 20 points as the overnight SPI200 found selling pressure off a technical resistance zone and also followed weakness in the US.
ECONOMIC DATA OUT TODAY (AEST) –
AUD AIG Services Index 8:30am
AUD Retail Sales and Trade Balance 11:30am
CNY Caixin Services PMI 11:45am
EUR Final Services PMI 6pm
GBP Services PMI 6:30pm
US Bank Holiday
SPI200 INTRADAY LEVELS TO WATCH –
