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Another fascinating week comes to a close ahead of a much-needed long weekend. Energy stocks have been the big winners this week, with oil stocks adding to gains today after Joe Biden said Israel and the US were “discussing” a strike on Iranian oil facilities.
The ASX200 experienced another quiet session as China Golden Week approached its conclusion. The index finished up +0.1%, even with over 50% of the market closing lower. However, when CBA, BHP, and CSL all advanced, the markets were going to be well supported. Chinese stocks traded in Hong Kong took a rest after surging ~30%, but a 1.6% pullback was nothing to worry the bulls.
Another quiet session for local stocks as they consolidate around ~8200 after a good run in September, and ahead of important US employment data due out on Friday. While expectations for aggressive US rate cuts helped investors look past recent weakness in the labour market, we now have 7-8 cuts already priced into the curve, meaning we expect markets to be more sensitive to any disappointing economic data, and Friday will be a test of that.
The ASX200 finished a choppy session on Wednesday down just -0.1%, with over 65% of the main board ending lower. However, another solid session by the resources, particularly energy names, was enough to stem the losses. Escalation of the Middle East conflict set the tone early in the morning, but buying in the likes of Beach Energy (BPT) +4.6% and Woodside (WDS) +3.1% almost offset general selling on concerns after Israel vowed to retaliate against Iran for its missile attack – the regions on a knife edge
The majority of stocks ended lower today as concern around tensions in the Middle East weighed, though selling was only tepid and there were pockets of strength, largely from energy and resources stocks offset by weakness across Technology. A fairly lacklustre session, void of any real news, so a short note this afternoon!
The ASX200 slipped 0.7% on Tuesday during a rare session that saw the banks and resources close lower. The economic news was net positive, reaffirming the RBA’s tough stance towards interest rates, but it’s becoming an increasingly polarised economy
With China off on Golden Week holiday, there was a void of any positive policy news from the region and with the start of a new quarter, it wasn’t surprising to see some weakness creep into the market, the index giving back the gain it put on yesterday with both the miners & banks attracting sellers.
China has been a major buyer of gold as investors searched for an alternative to a plummeting property and stock market and a hedge against the Yuan. However, the last week has mitigated many of the fears weighing on Chinese investors over recent times.
A positive session to cap off a strong month for local equities underpinned by a policy pivot in China; the ASX200 rallied 3.24% inclusive of dividends, about 2x the return achieved by US stocks in $US terms, though when both are priced in AUD, the local outperformance was significant.
Last week, Beijing pressed the “whatever it takes button” to jumpstart their struggling economy that’s currently on course to miss its annual GDP growth target of ~5%. Financial markets across the world stood back and took notice, with the Shanghai Composite surging to a three-month high
