Pope Francis was every inch visibly moved when he met on Thursday Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman who refused to recant her Christian faith even as a death sentence loomed over her head.
While equities continue to extend their gains, sentiment appears to be a bit mixed as the major currency pairs maintain some tight ranges. While there were a few developments overnight, the dominant theme remained US corporate earnings and optimism around an improving global manufacturing picture. US unemployment claims came in at the lowest since February 2006 and this saw the four-week average drop to around 300,000. This is a good sign heading into next week's non-farm payrolls data. With ...
US economic data: New home sales fell by 8.1% in June - the biggest decline in almost a year. US jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 284,000 - the lowest level in nearly 8½-years. US Flash PMI fell from 57.3 to 56.3 in July, below analyst expectations for a reading of 57.5.
The $530-billion Saudi Arabia stock exchange plans to open its doors to foreign investors for the first time in 2015. The move aims to reduce the kingdom's dependence on oil revenue and bring in more international investments.
The Australian market closed higher again today boosted by the better than expected "Flash" Chinese manufacturing data for July. The HSBC China flash Purchasing Managers' Indexes (PMI) for July hit a 18month high up 52.0 boosted by new orders up from 50.7 points in June and better than the BLOOMBERG market survey expected of 51.0.
The Australian market opened stronger today as expected and by lunch the market had been boosted by the better than expected "Flash" Chinese manufacturing data for July. The HSBC China flash Purchasing Managers' Indexes (PMI) for July hit a 18month high up 52.0 boosted by new orders up from 50.7 points in June and better than the BLOOMBERG market survey expected of 51.0.
At least 32,000 people in Taiwan were left without power supply after typhoon Matmo pummeled the east Asian country. Matmo has likewise made landfall in China, the country's second weather disturbance within a week.
Yahoo!, which owns a 24% stake in Alibaba, said that the Chinese e-commerce giant that is launching an initial public offering (IPO) sometime in August has agreed to the tech firm's request to reduce the maximum number of shares it sells in the launch to 140 million from the initial plan of 208 million.
It was another positive night for equities, with gains through European and US trade mainly driven by optimism around US corporate earnings. Geopolitical risk was largely ignored yet again with traders favouring equities.
IMF released updated US growth forecasts. US growth forecasts for 2014 were lowered from 2% to 1.7%. 2015 growth forecasts were kept at 3% - which would be the fastest expansion since 2005. The IMF believes the Fed can keep policy rates at zero for longer than mid-2015 if inflation stays subdued.
Today was a solid day for the markets and investors at last we saw the market putting some good ruins on the board and the ASX 200 hit a new 6 year high. The market was boosted by positive quarterly numbers from BHP Billiton Limited (BHP) and a strong rally into bank, insurance and transport stocks.By the end of trade the All Ordinaries Index had added 33 points and the ASX up 0.6% to 5576.7 points. The market trading volume increased today to 2.3Billion shares and all sectors closed higher.
Major U.S. airlines suspended their flights to Israel on Tuesday, July 22 after a rocket attack on the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.
After a solid session on Wall Street the Australian market opened higher. Our market boosted by positive quarterly numbers from BHP Billiton Limited (BHP) and money going back into the banking sector.
Global macro concerns may have outweighed trading yesterday due to light reporting; however out of the 36 individual companies that reported to the market, 79% beat expectations, meaning bottom-up actuals outpaced the global gloom being generated by geopolitics.
In US economic data existing home sales rose for the third consecutive month in June, up 2.6% to an annual rate of 5.04 million - an eight month high. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% in June to be up 2.1% over the year. Gasoline accounted for two-thirds of the gain lifting by 3.3% in June. Stripping out food & energy prices, core CPI rose by a tame 0.1% in June to be up 1.9% on year ago.
Following the success of the Abbott government to repeal the carbon tax law, BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) is challenging the Coalition to also repeal another tax initiated by the past Labor government under former Prime Minister Julia Gillard - the mining tax.
It was another very quiet day on the Aussie market with total market turnover only at 2Billion shares well down own the daily average. Investors nervous about entering the market at present and larger investors sitting the day out from trading ahead of tomorrow´s June quarter inflation numbers (CPI).
Usually a 2 points gain at the start of trade would not be seen as a strong start but since the SPI futures had our market set for a decline and we had weakness in overseas market this was a good start. But the joy was short lived with the market moving into the red within 30 minutes of trade.
The black boxes or flight recorders of downed Malaysia Airlines MH17, an essential electronic recording device placed in an aircraft that would greatly facilitate investigations in the event of an aviation accident or incident, are finally in the hands of Malaysian authorities.
Global macro concerns outweighed further bottom-up strength from US earnings overnight, as the Gaza-Israel conflict raged on and the squeeze on Russia politically saw its index take a further pounding.
European shares eased on Monday with investors concerned about ongoing tensions between Russia and western nations. Fresh violence has flared up in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. The FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 0.5% with the German Dax down by 1.1% while the UK FTSE lost 0.3%. Australia´s major miners were mixed in London trade with shares in BHP Billiton up by 0.1% while Rio Tinto lost 0.2%.
The Australia stock market finished the day higher as the ASX 200 added 8 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 9.2 points. The volume was very light today and the public holiday in Japan also impacted international trading volumes.
On Friday night the fear and volatility index (the VIX) fell 17% from its highs on Thursday as the concern over Geopolitical risk started to reduce around the downed Malaysian Airlines flight 17 and the news Israel had sent ground troops into Gaza. On Friday US markets rebounded and finished higher the Dow Jones up 123 points and the NASDAQ up 69 points.
At least 18 people have died after typhoon Rammasun struck Hainan island off China's southern coast on Friday.
US corporate earnings saw the US market finishing the week in the green and this trend looks to be continuing as several majors saw substantial improvement in the actuals.
In US economic data the leading index rose by 0.3% in June, short of the 0.5% forecast gain. The consumer sentiment index eased from 82.5 to 81.3 in July, short of the 83.0 forecast result.
After a trying and emotional night in the US on the back of the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and escalated international tensions in the Middle East, Malaysia Airlines is currently down 11% as investors come to grips with the news. Malaysia Airlines is majority owned by the Malaysian government holding company Khazanah Nasional Bhd. who told the market in the early session that MH17 B777-200 had a ´clean maintenance record´. Concerns about the ramifications of the incident sent the VIX...
Despite being sold off this morning for the first time since Wednesday last week, local shares have crept into positive territory. The crash of yet another Malaysian passenger plane has kept global markets on edge, pushing the price of gold and oil higher, while the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up by 0.1 per cent.
The horrible news that 295 passengers on a Malaysian Airlines flight have been killed over the Ukrainian/Russian border is a sharp reminder that current geopolitical tensions in that region are at knife point and this will be a flash point to tip it over.
The Philadelphia Fed´s manufacturing index rose from +17.8 to +23.9 in July, well ahead of forecasts (+16.0). The index has been particularly strong in the past four months. Across the subindices new orders, shipments, employment all recorded healthy gains. US jobless claims fell by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 302,000 last week.
