Australian Stock Market Report – Morning 4/14/14

US MORNING REPORT
(6am AEDT)

In US economic data, producer prices rose by 0.5% in March (forecast +0.1%) with core prices (excludes food and energy) up 0.6% (forecast +0.2%). It was the biggest lift in prices in nine months. Consumer sentiment rose from 80.0 to a 9-month high of 82.6 in April, above forecasts centred near 81.0.

European shares fell on Friday as the sell-off of technology stocks in the US weighed on investor sentiment. The FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 1.4% to be down 3% over the week. The German Dax lost 1.5% while the UK FTSE fell by 1.2%. Mining shares also fell in London trade with shares in BHP Billiton down by 1.1% while shares in Rio Tinto fell by 1.5%.

US sharemarkets fell again on Friday as investors continued to take profits on previously high-performing technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical stocks. Shares in JP Morgan Chase fell by 3.7% in response to weak earnings figures but shares in Wells Fargo rose 0.8% after its earnings result. The Dow Jones index fell by 143 points or 0.9% with the S&P 500 down by 1.0%, while the Nasdaq lost 54 points or 1.3%. Over the week the Dow Jones lost 2.4%, the S&P 500 fell by 2.6% while the Nasdaq lost 3.1%.

US long-term treasury prices rose on Friday (yields lower). While economic data was stronger than forecast, investors continued to switch funds from equities into bonds. US 2 year yields were steady near 0.359% while US 10 year yields fell by 3 points to 2.628%. Over the week US 2 year yields fell by 5 points and US 10 year yields fell by 8 points.

Major currencies were mixed against the greenback in European and US trade on Friday. The Euro held between US$1.3860 and US$1.3905, before ending US trade around US$1.3885. The Aussie dollar held between US93.60c and US94.25c before finishing US trade around US93.90c. And the Japanese yen strengthened from 101.83 yen per US dollar to JPY101.36 and was near JPY101.60 at the US close. In early Australasian trade the Euro has slumped to US$1.3835, the Aussie is near US93.80c and the yen is at JPY101.71 per US dollar.

World oil prices were mixed on Friday. Brent fell on expectations of higher crude supplies from Libya. US Nymex rose in response to strong US economic data. Brent crude fell by US14c or 0.1% to US$107.33 a barrel while US Nymex rose by US34c to US$103.74 a barrel. Over the week Brent rose by US61c or 0.6% with Nymex up US$2.60 or 2.6%.

Base metal prices were mixed on the London Metal Exchange on Friday. Nickel rose 1.9% with copper up 0.1%. But other metals fell up to 0.8%. Over the week base metals lifted between 0.7-6.2% with nickel the strongest and copper up the least. The Comex gold futures quote fell by US$1.50 an ounce to US$1,319.00 per ounce. Over the week gold rose by US$15.50. Iron ore fell by US$2.20 or 1.9% to US$116.90 a tonne on Friday. Over the week, iron ore rose by US$1.20.

Ahead: In Australia credit & debit card financing data is released. In the US, retail sales data is released.

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