Australian Shares

By Chris Becker Not the best start to Autumn here in the Southern Hemisphere – maybe there is a reason its called Fall?

A sea of red across Asian stock markets as confidence evaporates, confirmed by last night’s late rout on Wall Street.

AUD/USD is still falling after capex.

By Chris Becker US stocks continued their pullback overnight in the face of some end of month window dressing, continuing the volatile year that will be 2018.

The selloff from overnight continued here in Asia today as markets weighed up the return of King Dollar and the more hawkish head of the Fed.

Harvey Norman today joins the retailer carnage: Sales growth was actually OK at 4.1%: But there’s margin pressure probably from discounting: Macquarie analysts say Harvey Norman’s interim result was “weak from an underlying perspective” and there was “no clear cause of the Australia franchising margin reduction”.

By Chris Becker King Dollar has returned!

Risk markets are quite mixed here in Asia, particularly in China where stocks sold off in large caps due to concerns over earnings.

By Chris Becker Its a near one month high for US stocks as they led the charge again overnight setting up for another very positive session here in Asia today.

Friday’s solid session on Wall Street and the lack of bad news over the weekend has resulted in a sea of green across Asian markets today, with Chinese bourses leading the charge following the news of Xi Jinping’s extension in the top seat.

By Chris Becker  The recovery continues, particularly on US stocks which rallied strongly on Friday night as 2018 brings forth more volatility and hence more opportunity.

There is a battle going on in the financial press for the hearts and wallets of retail investors.

A mixed end to the week here in Asia with stock markets outside China rising even after a poor overnight lead from Wall Street.

Via UBS: Good Results but Still Lagging the Global Earnings Boom So far just over 130 members of the ASX200 have reported earnings (of around 170 due to report) making reporting season around 80% complete.

By Chris Becker Another very mixed night in stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic following an equally uncertain session here in Asia yesterday.

Following the poor lead from US stocks overnight, its been a rough day here in Asia, although the return of Chinese markets stopped a sea of red across the board.

By Chris Becker Uncertainty is ruling risk markets once more as interest rate normalcy reared its ugly head again overnight with the release of the FOMC minutes, sending the USD and Treasury yields higher.

A slightly better day here in Asia, but risk markets are still listless given the lack of follow through on Wall Street overnight from its long weekend holiday.

By Chris Becker The return of US traders from their long weekend has seen the return of nerves with stocks selling off overnight as record Treasury auctions saw very high yields returned, sparking more fear that the bond bull market is over.

The poor showing in European stocks overnight has led to a mild selloff on Asian stock markets, not helped by the still closed Chinese bourses.

By Chris Becker A long weekend in the US is not giving risk markets confidence as European stocks sold off slightly overnight as did German bunds and other sovereign bonds.

A flat start to the week in currencyland but stocks are poised to build on their recovery gains from last week, even in the absence of trading in China due to the NY celebrations and Wall Street tonight due to President’s Day.

By Chris Becker  The recovery continues, particularly on US stocks as 2018 brings forth more volatility and hence more opportunity.