A fairly subdued morning before RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe stepped up to the plate and surprisingly raised interest rates when the vast majority thought they would remain on hold. That sent the AUD sharply higher, bond (prices) & equities sharply lower which materially pushed up yields.
A positive start to the week and month for the ASX, though the local index finished a long way from early session highs today as investors position themselves ahead of the RBA rate decision due out tomorrow morning. Tech was the main laggard which was particularly disappointing given the strength seen in the Nasdaq in recent sessions. The Materials sector was also lacklustre, struggling for direction with most Asian markets closed for Golden Week.
A solid end to a positive month for the ASX with 60% of the market finishing higher, although there were some fireworks happening under the hood with Megaport (MP1) up ~40% on better guidance. For the month, the ASX 200 put on +1.83% and it was the sectors that benefit from lower interest rates that saw the best of it, namely Property & IT while the Material’s were the only group to end April in the red.
The ASX fell again today, now down 5 consecutive sessions with Banks & Healthcare stocks contributing most of the pain at the index level. Concern stemming from the US financial system is headlining the media, however, in MM’s view, it has simply been a case of a tired market approaching a seasonally weak period and it made sense to take some cream off the top after a solid run for stocks.
A choppy session for the ASX today with a lot of company news met with key economic data. A weaker open, although better results from key US companies aftermarket saw US Futures rally which provided some support to local stocks, before the recovery really got underway post the inflation data at 11.30 am where the RBA’s preferred measure of prices came in a touch below expectations, and this reduces the chance of another hike in May.
A quiet session as you’d expect with all the smart people taking Monday off to lock in a 4-day break ahead of ANZAC day tomorrow….The ASX opened lower and remained in a holding pattern, although there were a few moves on the stock level that caught our eye.
A mixed bag across the board today with sectors split pretty much down the middle, however, the heavy-weight sectors dragged the overall index lower. Quarterly reports from the miners dominated the news flow though it was the softness in commodity prices that mostly weighed on the sector. BOQ copped a few downgrades overnight and concerns around bad debts and competition for mortgages put pressure on the financials sector. The ASX 200 was down -31pts/-0.42% for the week.
Another tepid session for stocks with the ASX down early before a spirited fightback saw the market trade up for the day, before some selling took hold into the close. At this stage, the market simply feels tired after its stellar run as opposed to being bearish and swamped with high-volume selling. Today the winners actually outnumbered the losers (just), although a ~2% decline by the material sector is always going to weigh, offset by a good move higher by the banks.
Another fairly flat session by the ASX today, although it’s looking tired and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a near-term top evolve with the first signs of money transitioning from the edgier, high-beta areas into the more defensive plays. Still, with negative market positioning (high cash levels + high bond ownership v equities) very obvious we wouldn’t be running for the hills, meaningful tops don’t often correlate with pessimistic positioning – but a pause, consolidation, and a shallow pullback could easily play out.
A slow day for the market with a lot of fundies away for School holidays + finding compelling value is getting harder given the market’s recent run. Sometimes it’s best to sit tight and it certainly felt that way today in what proved to be a choppy but overall negative session for stocks with 65% of the index closing lower.
A positive start to the week and month for the ASX, though the local index finished a long way from early session highs today as investors position themselves ahead of the RBA rate decision due out tomorrow morning. Tech was the main laggard which was particularly disappointing given the strength seen in the Nasdaq in recent sessions. The Materials sector was also lacklustre, struggling for direction with most Asian markets closed for Golden Week.
A solid end to a positive month for the ASX with 60% of the market finishing higher, although there were some fireworks happening under the hood with Megaport (MP1) up ~40% on better guidance. For the month, the ASX 200 put on +1.83% and it was the sectors that benefit from lower interest rates that saw the best of it, namely Property & IT while the Material’s were the only group to end April in the red.
The ASX fell again today, now down 5 consecutive sessions with Banks & Healthcare stocks contributing most of the pain at the index level. Concern stemming from the US financial system is headlining the media, however, in MM’s view, it has simply been a case of a tired market approaching a seasonally weak period and it made sense to take some cream off the top after a solid run for stocks.
A choppy session for the ASX today with a lot of company news met with key economic data. A weaker open, although better results from key US companies aftermarket saw US Futures rally which provided some support to local stocks, before the recovery really got underway post the inflation data at 11.30 am where the RBA’s preferred measure of prices came in a touch below expectations, and this reduces the chance of another hike in May.
A quiet session as you’d expect with all the smart people taking Monday off to lock in a 4-day break ahead of ANZAC day tomorrow….The ASX opened lower and remained in a holding pattern, although there were a few moves on the stock level that caught our eye.
A mixed bag across the board today with sectors split pretty much down the middle, however, the heavy-weight sectors dragged the overall index lower. Quarterly reports from the miners dominated the news flow though it was the softness in commodity prices that mostly weighed on the sector. BOQ copped a few downgrades overnight and concerns around bad debts and competition for mortgages put pressure on the financials sector. The ASX 200 was down -31pts/-0.42% for the week.
Another tepid session for stocks with the ASX down early before a spirited fightback saw the market trade up for the day, before some selling took hold into the close. At this stage, the market simply feels tired after its stellar run as opposed to being bearish and swamped with high-volume selling. Today the winners actually outnumbered the losers (just), although a ~2% decline by the material sector is always going to weigh, offset by a good move higher by the banks.
Another fairly flat session by the ASX today, although it’s looking tired and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a near-term top evolve with the first signs of money transitioning from the edgier, high-beta areas into the more defensive plays. Still, with negative market positioning (high cash levels + high bond ownership v equities) very obvious we wouldn’t be running for the hills, meaningful tops don’t often correlate with pessimistic positioning – but a pause, consolidation, and a shallow pullback could easily play out.
A slow day for the market with a lot of fundies away for School holidays + finding compelling value is getting harder given the market’s recent run. Sometimes it’s best to sit tight and it certainly felt that way today in what proved to be a choppy but overall negative session for stocks with 65% of the index closing lower.
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