Australian Shares

A stronger than expected US initial jobless claims print  – the third week in a row that was well above expectations – gave bond and currency markets a bit of a shakeup but was overshadowed by increased Iranian tensions with the US and the plainly not-a-deal US-China trade deal.

Middle East tensions are dominating risk taking here in Asia with most share markets finishing in the red, not helped by what looks like a “non-deal” deal from the ongoing US/China talks, regardless of what the Trump regime claim has come to pass.

We are approaching the buy-everything blowoff of the rally.

A weaker than expected US inflation print overshadowed the not-a-deal US-China trade talk announcement from the Trump regime that looks almost exactly like a return to the early April settings.

Asian share markets are having a much more relaxed session across the region as speculation of a possibly positive outcome from the US-China trade talks builds although this might be goosed tonight as European and US share futures are slowly taking a dive.

The Market Ear still sees fuel to go higher.

Another light news session overnight as speculation mounts of potential trade deals and tariff pullbacks with US-China talks progressing.

The first session following the release of the latest monthly US jobs print is usually benign and that’s what we had across most risk markets overnight as speculation about what the Federal Reserve will do until the next NFP print calmed down, sending the USD slightly lower against the majors.

Asian share markets are having a buoyant session across the region on the back of the “just okay” US jobs report from Friday night and some further indication that the Federal Reserve is likely to keep easing while the ECB and BOE look set to finish or have already done so.

Friday night saw the release of the latest US jobs print – the non-farm payrolls or NFP for May – which came in on expectations although revisions and internal numbers show building weakness from the start of the year.

The Market Ear on the nature of the rally. Range mania continues SPX remains stuck inside the 5800/6000 range (futures).

Last night saw the ketamine Nazi having a Twitter/X stoush with the Adderall TACO-baby online after their recent public divorce, with Trump threat of taking away Tesla’s subsidies sending its stock price down over 14%.

Stock markets were quite mixed in the Asian session today without a solid lead from Wall Street as concerns over rare earth metal supply held back Japanese equities while currency markets are awaiting tonight’s ECB meeting.

Last night saw the release of the latest US ISM services and private jobs data reports and both slumped below market expectations, halting the mini rally on Wall Street and tanking the USD once again.

Its still all about the art of the deal as the Trump regime struggles to find anyone wanting to come to the table with more tit for tat accusations between China still not yet upsetting risk markets.

The Market Ear on the hated rally.

Last night saw the release of the latest EU flash inflation figures which imply some building deflationary pressures while the latest US factory orders blew up to a new low, reinforcing the damage done by the Trump regime’s tariff “plan”.

A lot of macro events and geopolitics hit risk markets today but was mostly absorbed outside of currencies as the USD hit a six week low on a combination of the burgeoning world wide trade war started by the Trump regime and the growing slowdown in the domestic US economy.

It was all about the TACO trade overnight as Wall Street rallied on an extension of Chinese tariff pauses despite a lot of vitriol between Trump and the Middle Kingdom about breaking the recent trade deal.

More hesitation on risk markets as the weekend news of increased tensions on Chinese and US trade, including more off the cuff tariff announcements from the TACO-in-Chief unsettles the new start to the trading month.

The Market Ear with a May cleanup.