Australian Shares

By Chris Becker  US stock markets returned from their long weekend and went on the defensive straight away, absorbing the Apple guidance cut with some mild falls on Wall Street after European bourses fell in response to a rout in Asia.

Its a risk off mood here in Asia today with the fallout from the Apple revenue guidance striking a little bit of fear in stock markets.

By Chris Becker  Risk markets traded thinly overnight due to the closure of Wall Street for a holiday, although stocks on both sides of the Atlantic did inch up slightly.

Just out: Our quarterly guidance issued on January 28, 2020 reflected the best information available at the time as well as our best estimates about the pace of return to work following the end of the extended Chinese New Year holiday on February 10.

Today’s session in Asia was marked (sic) with a lot of markdowns to GDP growth across the region in the wake of the coronavirus, with Japanese and Australian economies expected to feel the brunt the most in the first quarter.

Via the excellent Damien Boey at Credit Suisse: Globally, equities have very much been a momentum and quality story in early 2020.

By Chris Becker  Friday night saw risk markets wobble slightly as the latest US industrial production numbers fall slightly while inflation expectations also pared back, although retail sales were upbeat as expected.

A mixed day here in Asia with some stock markets following Wall Street down, some advancing particularly in China and its Australian satellite.

By Chris Becker  Risk markets continue to be rattled by fear over the coronavirus with the big jump in Chinese cases sending Wall Street send slightly overnight which should provide a minor headwind to end the risk taking here in Asia going into the weekend.

A spike in new cases of coronavirus shook markets up a bit here in Asia today depsite the good run on Wall Street overnight.

The return of Japanese traders and a still upbeat Wall Street saw most Asian stock markets advance, with the major macro event being the RBNZ holding their cash rate and the New Hampshire primary in the USA.

It’s all engines ahead for risk as Chinese shares breakout, pushed along by a higher Aussie dollar and lower Yen as risk appetite comes back again here in Asia.

Transurban continues to feast on the ‘Big Australia’ mass immigration policy, delivering more strong growth on its toll road network: Transurban’s half-year profit rose by 11 per cent amid higher traffic on its toll roads in Australia… Net profit totalled $162m in the six months through December, rising from $145m a year ago.

Over the years I’ve had some time for David Rosenberg but have also learned that he is sometimes too bearish.

By Chris Becker  Risk markets are oscillating between hope and fear with a swing to the former overnight on Wall Street overshadowing the fear in Asia yesterday.

Risk markets are slipping again, with Asia reacting to the falls on Wall Street from Friday night in a similar direction and magnitude.

Hoocoodanode?

By Chris Becker  Risk sentiment continues to be all over the place with Wall Street falling on Friday night, despite a strong US jobs report that saw over 225K jobs added in January, although of course average earnings remain anemic.

Asian share markets have moderated their recent gains with gold and Bitcoin the only undollar assets to advance.

By Chris Becker  Risk sentiment is now back to its pre-coronavirus levels, with Wall Street putting in new record highs and USD strengthening against almost everything, paving the way for further optimism.

Its risk on across Asia as stock markets gather pace with big moves higher across the board, as undollar assets and safe havens are sold off.

By Chris Becker  Risk sentiment is improving everywhere with European and US stocks lifting strongly overnight, helped along by a very firm services ISM release in the US that smacked down all undollar assets.

Another sea of green across Asian stock market boards today, although Chinese stocks were much higher earlier in the session.