MARKETS

With limited major macro news this week and after having seen the US and Australia releasing most of their respective January data in the past two weeks, the Asian and European earnings seasons will be the main driver of trade.

In US economic data, industrial production fell by 0.3% in January, short of forecasts for a 0.3% gain, but a result blamed on the severe winter weather. Import prices rose 0.1% in January and export prices rose by 0.2%. Consumer sentiment was unchanged at 81.2 in February.

While the federal Australian government is willing to help financially challenged national carrier Qantas, it wouldn't be in the form of a cash handout.

Local stocks have ended the week with an emphatic improvement .The ASX 200 ended the session at the best levels of the day. Participation from investors remained at healthy levels with close to $5 billion in shares exchanged. In a week that has been replete with economic news from the world's economically important regions, in addition to a landslide of company results locally, the ASX 200 has risen by 3.5%. Every sector finished the session with solid gains led by the healthcare and consumer...

The Australian sharemarket is up by 0.9 per cent at lunch, taking the gains since mid-last week to 5.4 per cent. All sectors are in the black, with the mining industry once again outperforming.

Equities in the US managed to extend their gains despite some disappointing economic data. Retail sales, unemployment claims and business inventories all missed consensus estimates, while Janet Yellen's Senate testimony was postponed due to weather-related issues. Despite all these negative prints, momentum still picked up with Comcast's TWC buyout helping sentiment along. Perhaps some are hoping the disappointing data could result in the Fed diverting/pausing its current tapering path, bu...

US retail sales fell by a surprising 0.4% in January after a 0.1% fall in December. Core sales (excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials, and food services) fell 0.3%. US initial jobless claims rose by 8,000 to 339,000 last week. US business inventories rose by 0.5% in December after rising by 0.4% in November. Analysts believe that the current level of inventory is unsustainable and it is likely that businesses will ease production to work through current stocks over the March quarte...

The Australian share market snapped a healthy five day winning streak today, to close marginally lower on the back of a disappointing jobs report.

The ASX 200 has spent the morning consolidating having risen for 5 consecutive sessions. The absence of catalysts from US and European markets last night a flurry of local companies reporting results meant that the index kept to a narrow trading range for most of the morning.

Choppy US trade has preceded a day of very interesting Chinese data, and the call for an 'orderly' unwind of monetary stimulus from the Fed overnight, suggests the market is in for a bit of a pause over the next two days.

The US Federal Government ran a $10.4 billion budget deficit in January, against expectations of $27.5 billion deficit.

Higher demand from Chinese buyers led to a record-high importation by China of cooper and iron ore from major sources such as Australia and Chile. Bloomberg reports that besides using these commodities for construction, it also serves as collateral to secure credit.

The Australian share market made it five wins in a row today, closing at its highest level since mid -January on the back of positive gains on Wall Street, positive Chinese economic data and solid earnings results.

The Australian sharemarket is modestly higher at lunch, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.4 per cent, taking the gains since last Thursday to 4 per cent. U.S. stocks jumped by 1.2 per cent (only the second time this calendar year the DOW has gained in excess of 1 per cent). U.S. Fed chief Janet Yellen delivered her first testimony before congress and calmed the market. She didn't mince her words and seemed set to continue with the tapering while expressing her concerns relating to the ...

Janet Yellen's maiden testimony to House Financial Services Committee may well have come from her predecessor.

In testimony to the US House of Representatives, US Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, said that she strongly supports the current policy strategy and expects a ´´great deal of continuity´´. Yellen also noted that recovery in the labour market is far from complete.

The ASX 200 completed its fourth consecutive day of gains on Tuesday. Much like yesterday, the index started the trade at the lows and ended around close to the best levels of the session. The ASX was shut down for 30 minutes this afternoon as a result of market data related issues. Volumes remained at healthy levels with $4.3 billion changing hands.

Despite a slightly weaker start this morning, the Australian sharmarket is managing to maintain some modest gains at lunch. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.4 per cent and has cracked through 5250.0pts.Our second largest trading partner; Japan is closed today for a holiday1.

Early this morning Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced he will have to take extraordinary measures to avoid hitting the debt ceiling as the February 12 deadline approaches.

European shares were mixed on Monday. The new head of the US Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, is to deliver her first testimony to the House of Representatives on Tuesday and the Senate on Thursday. The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by 0.1% with the UK FTSE up by 0.3% while the German Dax was lower by 0.1%. Mining shares were also mixed in London trade with BHP Billiton shares up by 0.6% while Rio Tinto lost 0.7%.

The Australian share market had a solid start to the trading week, on the back of solid gains on Wall Street on Friday night.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the third straight day, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up by 0.7 per cent. The miners are the best performers while weakness from the property trusts, utilities and consumer staple businesses are keeping a cap on the gains.

Headline data has once again blocked out the true underlying state of play.

In US economic news, non-farm payrolls rose by 113,000 in January, short of forecasts for a gain of 185,000. But private payrolls rose by 142,000 and the unemployment rate fell to a five-year low of 6.6%. Average earnings rose by 0.2% as expected. Consumer credit rose by US$18.76 billion in December, above forecasts for a gain of US$12 billion.

The Australian share market rallied for a second session today, adding 0.7 per cent by close after a better than expected jobless claims report released in the US overnight.

After a volatile start to the week markets have found something resembling equilibrium as the week draws to a close. In the face of what has at times been a challenging week, one of the consolations has been the consolidation of the ASX 200 around the 5100 level. On Friday morning investors have been content to take the market higher, albeit in unspectacular fashion.

The Dow and S&P saw a strong bounce overnight, which started from the opening bell and carried through to the close, registering their strongest gain for the year.

In US economic news, the trade deficit widened by 12% to $38.7 billion in December. The deterioration was driven by a 1.8% drop in exports - the biggest decline in over a year. Imports lifted by 0.3%. Jobless claims fell by 20,000 to 331,000 last week. US productivity rose at a 3.2% pace in the December quarter after an even brisker 3.6% pace in the September quarter.

After spending most of the week in the red, the Australian share market rebounded today, lifting by 1.2 per cent and reducing the weekly loss so far to 1.1 per cent.