Australian Stock Market Report – Morning September 15, 2014

Walmart NO: 1 Retailer in the World Market with $473.1 bln in 2014 FY — Walmart Store, that was destroyed by a tornado and later Rebuilt Reuters

* In US economic data, retail sales rose by 0.6% in August and lifted 0.3% if autos are excluded. Both results were in line with forecasts. Consumer sentiment rose from 82.5 to 84.6 in September, above forecasts for a result near 83.3.

* In Chinese economic data, retail sales rose 11.9% in the year to August with production up 6.9% (near 6yr low) and investment up 16.5%. Results fell short of economist forecasts.

* European shares were mixed on Friday ahead of the vote on Scottish independence. The FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 0.1% with the German Dax down by 0.4% while the UK FTSE rose 0.1%. Australia's major miners were flat in London trade with shares in BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both broadly unchanged.

* US sharemarkets fell on Friday as investors took profits on speculation that the Federal Reserve could take a more hawkish view on the rate outlook at Tuesday's meeting. The Dow Jones index fell by 61.5 points or 0.4%. The broader S&P 500 index fell by 0.6% while the Nasdaq lost 24 points or 0.5%. Over the week key indexes fell for the first time in six weeks with the Dow lower by 0.9%, the S&P 500 lost 1.1% while the Nasdaq eased 0.3%.

* US long-term treasury prices fell on Friday (yields higher) as firm economic data fuelled speculation that the US Federal Reserve may lift rates earlier than expected. US 2 year yields were flat at 0.56% while US 10 year yields were up by 6 points to 2.609%. Over the week US 2 year yields rose by 3 points while US 10 year yields rose by 14 points.

* Major currencies were generally lower against the greenback over the European and US sessions on Friday. The US dollar index hit a 15-month high, up for the ninth straight week. The Euro held between US$1.2910 and US$1.2980, before ending US trade near US$1.2960. The Aussie dollar eased from highs near US90.80c to lows around US90.30c before ending the US session near US90.35c. The Aussie is trading US90.07c this morning. And the Japanese yen held between 107.09 yen per US dollar and JPY107.38, ending US trade near JPY107.32.

* World oil prices fell again on Friday in response to a firmer greenback, an absence of supply disruptions and soft demand. Brent crude fell by US97c or 1.0% to US$97.11 a barrel with the US Nymex price down by US56c a barrel or 0.6% to US$92.27 a barrel. Over the week Brent fell by US$3.71 or 3.7% with the Nymex price down by US$1.02 or 1.1%.

* Base metal prices were generally higher by up to 1.0% on Friday with tin up the most. But aluminium bucked the trend, down by 0.5% with nickel down by 0.1%. Over the week metal prices fell up to 6.1% led by nickel. Gold prices fell to an eight-month low on Friday with the Comex gold futures quote lower by US$7.50 an ounce or 0.6% to US$1,231.50 per ounce. Over the week gold fell by US$35.80 an ounce or 2.8%. Iron ore rose by US10c or 0.1% on Friday to US$82.00 a tonne. Over the week iron ore fell by US$1.60 a tonne.

Ahead: In Australia, new car sales figures are released. In the US, industrial production data is released together with the Empire State Index.

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