Australian Shares

By Chris Becker  It was an easy night for short USD traders as Fed chief Powell reiterated the central banks dovish stance, sending interest rates and King Dollar down and lifting stock markets and commodities.

Stocks in Asia remain unsettled as traders await Fed Chair Powell’s testimony to Congress tonight, with some optimism sneaking through particularly locally as the Australian dollar goes lower again.

By Chris Becker  Overnight markets were effectively sidelined by traders waiting for Fed Chairman Powell’s testimony with European stocks retreating while US stocks put in some minor gains, led by tech issues on the NASDAQ.

Stocks in Asia are still unsettled although Japanese stocks are holding up due to a much weaker Yen.

By Chris Becker  US stocks gapped down on the open and remained in the red all session in response to the weak session in Asia, with European bourses barely keeping afloat as well.

Hope is not a good enough driver for risk markets, with Friday nights’ US unemployment print dashing expectations of sooner and larger rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

By Chris Becker  The biggest event on the economic calendar – US unemployment or non-farm payrolls (NFP) – on Friday night shook up risk markets as the strong print markedly reduced expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

The Shanghai Composite is setting the mood here in Asia by treading water around a tight range, although it briefly dipped below the 3000 point barrier earlier in the session it looks sit to finish a very dull week indeed.

Cross posted from The Conversation by Jason Pallant Lecturer of Marketing, Swinburne University of Technology The Woolworths Group proclaims it celebrates “family-friendly values”.

By Chris Becker  With US markets closed for a holiday, other risk assets still pushed higher in their absence with German bond yields now at a record low and matching the ECBs negative deposit rate.

Share markets in Asia were mixed despite a very strong from overnight markets as traders weigh up the closed US session and the following NFP print on Friday night.

By Chris Becker  A much firmer response from the risk on crowd overnight as US stocks pushed to new highs while US interest rates plumbed new lows.

Share markets in Asia are losing their optimism midweek as traders prepare for the non farm payrolls on Friday with the background of flailing manufacturing and a lower energy prices not helping risk appetites.

The Caixin services PMi is out and sucks: The Caixin China Composite PMI™ data (which covers both manufacturing and services) showed that business activity in China rose only marginally overall.

By Chris Becker  Another board full of green with US and European stocks lifting overnight alongside Treasuries as the 10 year yield dipped below the 2% mark on some very dovish comments coming from the central bank wonks as the global manufacturing slowdown gathers pace.

Share markets in Asia are mixed today despite the green board across other risk markets overnight, as traders look for more clues and innuendo surrounding the trade war truce between the US and China coming out of the G20 on the weekend.

By Chris Becker  With the trade war truce in place, equity markets gapped higher overnight with US stocks hitting a record high as traders piled all in, despite the worrying signs across the globe as manufacturing rolls over.

The G20 and the trade war truce between China and the US has lifted risk spirits despite a slew of very poor manufacturing PMIs released in Asia today.

By Chris Becker  Friday night saw the return of confidence as the G20 meeting got underway in Osaka, with hope surrounding some sort of outcome of the trade spat between the US and China.

Despite the positive lead from Wall Street, Asian markets are very cautious going into the G20 summit this weekend in Osaka, with traders awaiting the foot in mouth US President to probably foul up the talks.

By Chris Becker  Hope is rising on risk markets that this weekend’s G20 summit – more rightly a G2 summit between US and China – will result in some sort of ceasefire at least over the trade war.

Despite the mixed lead from Wall Street overnight, sentiment has risen here in Asia with more positive comments surrounding Chinese trade talks as the G20 approaches.

Via the ABC: Christopher Pyne’s new job has put his old boss, Scott Morrison, under pressure to reprimand him amid accusations it is a breach of ministerial standards.

By Chris Becker  Two major factors are keeping markets enthralled at the moment, resulting in scratch sessions for stocks and the usual normal oscillation on currencies.

Asian stock markets haven’t reacted at the same level as Wall Street’s falls overnight, with some moderate buyers stepping in as Treasury yields lift a little higher.