Australian Shares

Following the very positive finish on Wall Street on Friday night, risk markets here in Asia have popped higher, with the Australian dollar advancing strongly, albeit on the tightening yield spread with US Treasuries.

By Chris Becker  Looking at Chinese stocks first, where last week saw the Shanghai Composite followed its pause with a lower high, albeit finishing the week above the 3000 point level.

Today’s BOJ interest rate meeting came and went without much fuss, as Chinese markets were buoyed by higher house price growth.

By Chris Becker  US stocks stalled overnight as the USD firmed following another desperate night of Brexit drama which saw the UK Parliament ask for a delay, sending Pound Sterling down.

It was a mixed repsonse to the trifecta of Chinese internal economic data, slightly overshadowed by the Japanese government looking to downgrade its growth forecasts, which sent Yen falling against USD.

By Chris Becker  Despite the ongoing clusterf$%k that is Brexit, risk markets are all looking up with oil making a new weekly high while US stocks pushed to a four month high as the USD weakness continues to provide support.

Asian stock markets are fighting poorly against a risk off sentiment with the fallout from the failed Brexit deal last night in the UK still reverberating.

By Chris Becker  Brexit is dominating risk markets again, but an upbeat Wall Street – minus Boeing’s effect on the Dow – smoothed over the volatility, with Pound Sterling the only real casualty.

Asian stocks are doing well following the solid Wall Street lead with the USD still looking weak heading into tonights CPI print.

By Chris Becker  Risk appetite powered back overnight due to the better than expected US retail sales numbers, with tech stocks leading the way on Wall Street.

Asian stocks are mixed following the disappointing NFP print on Friday night, although it seems risk off has been priced in by most markets as the USD takes a breather.

By Chris Becker  Looking at Chinese stocks first, where last week saw the Shanghai Composite double down on its recent epic breakout, getting well above the 3000 point level before a late week selloff saw some sanity prevail.

The big fall in Chinese trade for February has seen a big slump on stock markets across Asia, not helped by the poor showing on transatlantic markets as the ECB plays catchup to the prospect of a Euro-wide recession.

Everyone except the lunatic RBA is racing in one direction now, including NAB’s Alan Oster: “We now think that the RBA will make two rate cuts in 2019.

The Wall Street Journal was out yesterday with a comment expressing optimism on 2020 earnings forecasts that is wrong: While analysts have been downgrading their forecasts for this year’s revenues and earnings growth, projections for 2020 look more encouraging.

By Chris Becker  Wow what a fun night for currency traders!

The confluence of a poor night on Wall Street, a stronger Yen, the Huawei story, plus a bunch of nasty local data has seen risk mainly taken off the table throughout Asia.

By Chris Becker  US stock markets fell overnight as the trade deficit figures blew out more than expected, with risk sentiment not helped by the OECD lowering its forecast for global growth.

A mixed day here in Asia as Japanese stocks take a dive while locally, the ASX200 is supported by the almost baked in rate cuts coming for the Australian dollar as the GDP print comes in lower than expected.

By Chris Becker  US stock markets have closed where they started again despite a better than expected non-manufacturing ISM print overnight, which initally sent the USD higher but then faded against the majors later in the session.

Risk is taking a holiday here in Asia in response to the slump overnight on Wall Street with the USD gaining strength against most of the majors not providing the usual help.

By Chris Becker  Risk markets are turning cautious despite some potentially positive good news around the US China trade talks, with USD continuing its bull run against the major currency pairs.

Via UBS today: Earnings growth of 3.8% expected in FY19, but driven mostly by Resources Reporting season is now complete.

A generally positive end to the week here in Asia with most stock markets putting on meaningful gains, buoyed by positive numbers out of China and Japan, plus a higher USD suppressing local currencies.

Outside Australia, stocks have dropped across the region as the US/NK summit ends on a whimper, cut short with no agreement.