The Australian sharemarket slumped by 1.7 per cent, having its worst day in seven months and closing at a 1.5 month low. All sectors finished in the red following a 2 per cent slump in U.S. equities fuelled by disappointing manufacturing data.
The Australian share market has followed Wall Street's downbeat lead and is lower by 1.3 per cent at lunchtime in the East.
The only word to describe the trading on the US market overnight is brutal.
In US economic news, the ISM manufacturing index fell from 56.5 to an 8-month low of 51.3 in January, short of forecasts for a result near 56.0. Construction spending rose by 0.1% in December, close to forecasts.
Kremlin officials said on Monday that Russia is working to have a free trade deal with New Zealand by the yearend. The agreement would include Belarus and Kazakhstan, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Locals stocks finished largely unchanged, with holidays across the region keeping a cap on trading volumes. This week, the highlight locally is likely to be the Reserve Bank's statement tomorrow and a monthly jobs report in the U.S. on Friday.
The February reporting season has started and is set to showcase how Australian companies have fared over the first half of the financial year.
With Chinese Luna New Year well underway and the year of the horse being welcomed in, some may have missed the official China PMI print for December on Saturday which came in a tick under estimates at 50.5.
In US economic news, personal income was flat in December (forecast +0.2%) while spending rose 0.4% (forecast +0.2%). The Chicago purchasing managers index eased from 60.8 to 59.6 in January (forecast 59.0). US consumer sentiment rose from a preliminary reading of 80.4 in January to a final reading of 81.2 but was down from 82.5 in December. The employment cost index rose 0.5% in the December quarter.
The Australian share market finished slightly higher today, but still lost ground over the week as investors around the globe remained concerned about emerging markets.
The last 12 hours have seen volatility subside relative to the previous day. European and US stock indices finished higher and the atmosphere in currency markets, particularly for emerging markets was stabilising. Notwithstanding the improved general tone sellers has the edge at the open of the local session, although the losses were contained to a modest size.
With emerging market currencies beginning to calm, we are finally seeing the moves we would have expected to see on the back of the tapering decision. The US dollar index bounced back above 81 while equities advanced despite some mixed US economic data. This suggests that focus was perhaps on a recovery in emerging market bourses particularly for Turkey and Mexico. The earnings season in the US continued to progress favourably and this also encouraged investors to bid equities higher. Facebook p...
In US economic news, the advance reading of economic growth (GDP) for the December quarter was at 3.2% - in line with forecasts. New claims for unemployment insurance rose by 18,000 to 348,000 in the latest week - above forecasts for a result near 330,000. And the pending home sales index fell 8.7% to 92.4 in December.
One of the main questions vexing investors in the early part of 2014 has been resolved in the last day. The decision by the US Federal Reserve to taper their monthly asset purchase by an additional $10 billion dollars saw brisk selling in regional equity markets on Thursday. The ASX200 showed little inclination to recover from its initial selloff for much of the day. The final 2 hours of trade saw some support emerge for the market, although it remained well in the red at the close.
Australian exporters are profiting from the sudden huge demand for rock lobsters in China, like those caught in the video, due to the Chinese New Year celebration on Friday.
The Australian share market is giving back yesterday's gains following triple digit losses on Wall Street overnight.
Risk unwound through European and US trade as the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Turkey's aggressive hike proved to be short lived. The central bank theme continued with the Fed meeting in focus where it decided to taper by a further $10 billion, taking monthly purchases down to $65 billion as expected. Once again the $10 billion will be equally split between treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The commentary didn't change much with the Fed noting an improvement in the la...
The US Federal Reserve has decided to reduce (´taper´) bond purchases by another $10 billion to $65 billion a month. The Fed noted ´´growth in economic activity picked up in recent quarters. Labor market indicators were mixed but on balance showed further improvement.´´
The local sharemarket staged a comeback after four straight days of losses. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by around 1 per cent, following Tuesday's 1.26 per cent slump. Concerns relating to emerging market stability have been keeping investors on edge in recent days; however signs that Turkey was taking the issue seriously, settled some nerves. Turkey's central bank increased lending rates from 7.75 per cent to 12 per cent following an emergency meeting. This was aimed at halting a s...
The Australian share market is recovering after yesterday posting its biggest one day loss since mid-December, as investors remained concerned about the health of emerging economies.
Green on screen seen across the global overnight finally took some of the heat out of concerned talk around emerging markets. US earnings season continued to show that earnings in the final quarter grew between 6% and 8% and this added support to the reasoning that the S&P has its best trading year since 1997.
In US economic news consumer confidence rose from 77.5 to 80.7 in January, above forecasts for a result near 78.1. The S&P/Case Shiller home price index rose 0.9% in November to be up 13.7% on a year ago - the largest gain in eight years. But durable goods orders fell 4.3% in December. Excluding defence equipment and aircraft, orders fell 1.3%. Economists had tipped a 0.5% rise.
The Australian sharemarket is significantly weaker at lunch, as investors return to work following a holiday. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.8 per cent, with the mining and financial sectors the main drags on trade. The losses don't come as a surprise however as global markets slumped on Monday following concerns relating to emerging market growth.
Emerging markets continue to take a hammering as the fear around the moves in the Turkish lira prompted an emergency meeting of the Turkish central bank.
In US economic news the flash Markit Services PMI rose from 55.7 to 56.6 in January. New home sales fell 7.0% to a 414,000 annual rate in December, short of forecasts for a result near 457,000. And the Dallas Federal Reserve index rose from 3.1 to 3.8 in January.
It is bad that cigarettes are linked to lung cancer and tobacco firms continue to push their addicting products, especially to young people. Now, tobacco giant Phillip Morris is even making smoking more addictive by marketing marijuana cigarettes under the brand Marlboro M, according to report from a Web site named Abril Uno.
The Australian share market has ended the trading week in the red, closing lower by 0.4 per cent today as weakness in financial stocks weighed on sentiment. The Australian dollar also took a beating, following comments from an external Reserve Bank board member.
Sellers continued to make their case in early trade on Friday. There have been few consolations on offer for the bulls in recent days. A small positive has emerged on Friday. On several occasions sellers attempted to force the index through the 5250 area on a sustained basis. However buyers seemed content to defend this area. Having failed on 4 occasions, sellers retreated. Thereafter the market recovered ground quickly to be in positive territory at lunchtime. The question this afternoon will b...
Risk continued to trade with a negative tone after price action broke down in yesterday's Asian trade. The selling was really triggered by the disappointing HSBC China PMI reading which came in contractionary territory, and disappointing earnings in the US didn't help the situation.
n US economic news the flash Markit PMI eased from 55 to 53.7 in January. Slower rates of output and new order growth were behind the modest fall. The leading economic indicators index rose by 0.1% in December. US existing home sales rose by 1% in December. Existing home sales totalled 5.09 million units over 2013 - a seven year high. The national median price for existing homes was up 9.9% on a year ago. US jobless claims rose by 1,000 to 326,000 last week.
