A muted finish to the week with winners and losers split fairly evenly on the ASX200. Materials were on the winning side, supported by strength in iron ore and gold, offset by further weakness in Energy which continued to slide on higher crude inventory levels in the US. The main index finished the week up +72pts / +1.05%, a strong result particularly given the sizable ex-dividends from NAB & ANZ.
Traders faded yesterday’s surge in equities, giving back just shy of half of the gains seen in Wednesday’s session. Energy was under pressure on reports of higher crude inventory levels in the US while strong local Employment data took the shine off Tech and Real Estate.
A ‘risk on’ session washed over the ASX today with stocks enjoying a softer inflation read from the US overnight and a subsequent drop in bond yields – markets are pricing out further interest rate hikes, and starting to price in a higher potential for cuts. The market opened well this morning, peaked at midday and while we finished ~20pts off the session highs, all sectors finished higher with over 80% of stocks on the main board in the green.
Equities regained their mojo today after two softer sessions either side of the weekend, the ASX200 popping back above the 7000 an a broad-based rally with more than 80% of the index finishing higher though strong contributions from the resources sectors was key. Energy in particular was strong following OPEC releasing forecasts for oil demand to increase by 2.5mbboe a day helping to stem the weakness in a sector that has been under pressure.
A poor session to kick off the new trading week with the ASX snubbing the strength in the US on Friday night while latching onto any negative rhetoric locally that progressively weighed on the index throughout the day – finishing smack on session lows, not a great look!
A week of consolidation at the index level comes to a close, and while the index was little changed (ASX -0.02%), a lot was happening under the hood with two banks reporting and several other stocks out with updates, by in large, we were on the wrong side of them headlined by Xero (XRO) which we hold in our large cap growth strategy – more on this below.
The ASX200 hit a 3-week high around midday today on hopes that we have seen “peak rates” locally and in the US. The run home was a little tougher this afternoon though, finishing in positive territory but falling ~30pts from the high. The Energy sector continues to struggle, Crude oil hitting a 3-month low overnight feeding into further weakness today, offset by a reasonable performance by Financials and Materials.
A mildly positive session for the ASX with 65% of the main board higher, if it hadn’t been for widespread weakness across commodities the market would have pushed up through 7000 with a bullish vibe, only 24 hours after the RBA hiked rates again.
The RBA raised rates today by 0.25% to 4.35% inline with the majority of expectations and market pricing – we’re not surprised they did but we thought there was very little reason to do so. The reaction in markets told the story, stocks initially lower but reversed quickly to trade up (+20pts) from pre-announcement levels, while the currency fell (-0.80%) and so did bond yields, the reaction you’d expect at the end of a hiking campaign
Stocks started the week higher ahead of the RBA decision on interest rates tomorrow, a hike the more probable scenario according to both economists and interest rate futures, however on balance, we believe they shouldn’t and won’t hike as weakness creeps into the local economy, the 1H of 2024 could be a testing time for many people in Australia and we see no reason for the RBA to come off the sidelines after sitting pat for 4 straight meetings, especially given the changing bias in the US last week.
Traders faded yesterday’s surge in equities, giving back just shy of half of the gains seen in Wednesday’s session. Energy was under pressure on reports of higher crude inventory levels in the US while strong local Employment data took the shine off Tech and Real Estate.
A ‘risk on’ session washed over the ASX today with stocks enjoying a softer inflation read from the US overnight and a subsequent drop in bond yields – markets are pricing out further interest rate hikes, and starting to price in a higher potential for cuts. The market opened well this morning, peaked at midday and while we finished ~20pts off the session highs, all sectors finished higher with over 80% of stocks on the main board in the green.
Equities regained their mojo today after two softer sessions either side of the weekend, the ASX200 popping back above the 7000 an a broad-based rally with more than 80% of the index finishing higher though strong contributions from the resources sectors was key. Energy in particular was strong following OPEC releasing forecasts for oil demand to increase by 2.5mbboe a day helping to stem the weakness in a sector that has been under pressure.
A poor session to kick off the new trading week with the ASX snubbing the strength in the US on Friday night while latching onto any negative rhetoric locally that progressively weighed on the index throughout the day – finishing smack on session lows, not a great look!
A week of consolidation at the index level comes to a close, and while the index was little changed (ASX -0.02%), a lot was happening under the hood with two banks reporting and several other stocks out with updates, by in large, we were on the wrong side of them headlined by Xero (XRO) which we hold in our large cap growth strategy – more on this below.
The ASX200 hit a 3-week high around midday today on hopes that we have seen “peak rates” locally and in the US. The run home was a little tougher this afternoon though, finishing in positive territory but falling ~30pts from the high. The Energy sector continues to struggle, Crude oil hitting a 3-month low overnight feeding into further weakness today, offset by a reasonable performance by Financials and Materials.
A mildly positive session for the ASX with 65% of the main board higher, if it hadn’t been for widespread weakness across commodities the market would have pushed up through 7000 with a bullish vibe, only 24 hours after the RBA hiked rates again.
The RBA raised rates today by 0.25% to 4.35% inline with the majority of expectations and market pricing – we’re not surprised they did but we thought there was very little reason to do so. The reaction in markets told the story, stocks initially lower but reversed quickly to trade up (+20pts) from pre-announcement levels, while the currency fell (-0.80%) and so did bond yields, the reaction you’d expect at the end of a hiking campaign
Stocks started the week higher ahead of the RBA decision on interest rates tomorrow, a hike the more probable scenario according to both economists and interest rate futures, however on balance, we believe they shouldn’t and won’t hike as weakness creeps into the local economy, the 1H of 2024 could be a testing time for many people in Australia and we see no reason for the RBA to come off the sidelines after sitting pat for 4 straight meetings, especially given the changing bias in the US last week.
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