Australian Shares

It’s risk off day with Aussie well below 76 cents, Brent hit and Dalian easing.

by Chris Becker The quarter is almost over but finally, most stock markets are back to where they started the year as this bear market rally moves into the next phase.

Chris Weston, Chief Market Strategist at IG Markets To any conspiracy theorists it’s all become quite clear.

The big iron party rolls on with BHP up 4.2%, RIO 2.7% and FMG 2.3%: All are still short of previous bear market rally highs though in up trends.

by Chris Becker The USD is in near freefall post the FOMC decision which is lifting emerging markets, which is lifting commodities, especially oil, which is lifting the main sharemarkets in a “one size fits all” rising tide of risk appetite.

Chris Weston, Chief Market Strategist at IG Markets It’s never a dull day in the financial markets and we haven’t even reached the point where Donald Trump is officially honing in on the White House.

by Chris Becker A central bank finally moved markets up by admitting the fight against deflation – the one thing markets hate – is far from won!

The Fed meeting this evening has loomed large over Asian markets today.

Because the McGrath share price is in free fall: Now down -42% from the float.

Slowly but surely the big iron ore bounce is sagging with BHP down -2.3%, RIO -1.1% and FMG -1.4%: Dalian is trading up five points from overnight but is still pricing around $51 so spot could still fall again tonight.

by Chris Becker Markets are starting to eschew the stimulus puts that have characterised the epic rises in stocks since the GFC as the Bank of Japan continued its own stimulus measures following the ECB last week.

Regular readers will know that MB’s current implied asset allocations matrix is very conservative.

Chris Weston, Chief Market Strategist at IG Markets Developed market equities have a heavy, soggy feel to them and on a number of metrics traders have been looking at overbought readings and decided to book a little profit.

Big iron is fading today as Dalian hits the skids down three points from the overnight low.

From Mr Weston: Hello ‘Yellen call’.

If iron ore can hold, it’s big, from UBS: Diversifieds: All else equal, our BHP & RIO earnings estimates for CY 16 would be 1053% and 135% higher respectively, under a spot scenario.

by Chris Becker The bear market rally continued overnight, but in mixed fashion with European stocks moving higher and US bourses following reluctantly as the USD tried to recover its strength.

From Deutsche today: Inside the Bank Vault this week we highlight key valuation trends in the bank sector over the last month as well as take a look at the week’s global bank regulation news.

by Chris Becker Friday saw a follow through of the risk put given to markets by the ECB with stocks launching out of their ranges and firing up a proper bear market rally.

Global equity markets did not react well to ECB President Mario Draghi’s intimation that last night’s easing measures may have been it for further cuts to the deposit rate.

Big iron ore down again today with BHP hit -1.2%, RIO -0.3% and FMG -2.2%.

By Leith van Onselen Message to self: when a real estate agent with insider knowledge is trying to sell his stake in the market, DO NOT BUY.