Australian Dollar

A paradoxically unvolatile session overnight as Wall Street bounced back on a surprise downside print in US inflation while the ECB and BOE held fire on interest rate rises all of which barely moved currency markets.

A sea of red across Asian share markets in response to a selloff on Wall Street overnight although the falls are relatively minor locally as its mainly been tech stocks affected.

Wall Street accelerated its recent falls with tech stocks again leading the way as risk markets absorbed the implications of a four year high in US unemployment while paradoxically the USD rose slightly even as Fed officials admitted the soft labour market will require more rate cuts in 2026.

Silver goes ga ga while oil prices remain in a slump despite the new trade blockade against Venezuela announced by the Trump regime as most Asian share markets are beginning to bounce back from a rough start to the trading week.

Overnight we saw the release of both the October and November US jobs reports which at first glance looked nominal but in reality show a worsening employment situations as jobs growth slows even as immigration goes into nearly reverse.

Wall Street was almost unphased overnight by the dual NFP release as US unemployment jumped to a four year high, triggering a rally in US bonds, while the latest UK unemployment figures weren’t rosy either with speculation the BOE may move to easing its rates this week.

A sea of red across Asian share markets with the rough start to the trading week continuing as a wider risk off tone deepens, all mainly due to tech stock volatility.

Another selloff on Wall Street overnight was balanced by a strong bid across European stocks as risk markets continue to dance around the lower volatility trading period before Christmas.

Asian share markets are having a rough start to the trading week as the combination of lower trading volumes heading into the end of the calendar year combined with a lot of movement expected around central bank meetings this week increase volatility across the complex.

It’s going to be a busy week for the Australian dollar which has been on a tear recently against a broadening weakness building in USD (now down over 3% in two weeks).

Friday night saw a large selloff on Wall Street due to tech stocks getting out of sync with reality on earnings while some hawkish talk by Fed officials saw more bond selloffs as Treasury yields pipped higher again.

Asian share markets are doing quite well in the final but relatively quiet session of the trading week with the USD falling overnight on the bad but good initial jobless claims showing a soft US labour market helping supporting the risk taking.

A wobbly night on Wall Street due to Oracles earnings but also a “normalised” US initial jobless claims print proving the labour market is soft as the Fed claimed in its rate cut the previous session.

Wall Street loved the rate cut from the Fed last night and the apparently neutral not hawkish future position espoused by Fed Chair Powell.

The latest Chinese inflation numbers were slightly higher than expected which has seen the potential for a BOC RRR cut next year move lower, also pushing mainland shares down as well.

The Pacific Peso is on fire even before the RBA’s “hawkish hold” at yesterday’s meeting, keeping in on its short term trend that has seen it breach and hold the 66 cent level against USD.

Wall Street remained in a hold pattern overnight as everyone awaits the FOMC meeting with a selloff in Treasuries keeping USD somewhat supported, particularly against Yen while European shares also went nowhere.

All eyes on the RBA in its last meeting of the year today with a hawkish hold the expected outcome which gave the Aussie dollar a small boost but stocks didn’t like the result.

It’s decision day at Martin Place as the Reserve Bank of Australia meets to pull or not to pull – that is the question – the interest rate level.

Overnight action on stock markets was muted given the selloff in bonds across most sovereign markets with Treasuries falling back following hawkish comments from all sides on inflationary pressures.

The latest Japanese GDP figures were the biggest catalyst here in Asia while a boost in tech stocks is seeing Chinese shares lift higher in afternoon trade.