Australian Shares

Angus Nicholson for Chris Weston, Chief Market Strategist at IG Markets Investors in Asia are still digesting the massive rise seen across the region on Wednesday, and have taken the lack of any major data releases today as an excuse for relatively muted trading.

By Chris Becker The dour mood in Asia was reflected in European stocks overnight, but US markets and commodities rebounded, the former mainly on the back of Apples stock rising, the latter on a better than expected DOE report for oil.

Angus Nicholson for Chris Weston, Chief Market Strategist at IG Markets Mixed signals from the US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data have led to renewed volatility in Asia as uncertainty over whether the Fed will hike rates next week gripped markets.

By Chris Becker After an enormously bullish Asian session, European and US traders quickly hit the reverse lever as a new jobs report, indicating a record number of non-farm job openings in the US, pushed forward the interest rate hawks claims and thus squashed the stock market bulls.

by Angus Nicholson for Chris Weston, IG Japanese markets have been the standout performer in Asia today, seeing a record daily rise off the back of plans to cut corporate tax rates. Having said that, the methods by which theShanghai Composite (SHCOMP) is rising are somewhat concerning.

By Chris Becker US traders came back from a three day weekend and decided to bid up, well almost everything!

by Chris Weston, IG http://brightcove04.brightcove.com/22/2830693144001/201509/1985/2830693144001_4469902734001_AUD-taken-to-the-woodshed.mp4 Asian markets were fairly mixed today with domestic stories largely moving the markets – a change from the highly correlated global volatility seen in recent weeks.

By Chris Becker A poor lead from Asia and with the US having a long weekend still led to European stocks having a small rebound overnight.

by Chris Weston, IG Whether or not we have realistically seen the lows in the various Chinese markets is yet to be seen, but the belief and assurance provided by the Chinese authorities over the weekend suggests we may see better days ahead.

By Chris Becker Friday night was not a good one for stocks as the bear market rolled into another week, sans bad Chinese data and with a mixed kicker of an NFP print.

Chris Weston, Chief Market Strategist at IG Markets There has been no clear rhythm or reason behind moves in Asia today, with traders massaging portfolios ahead of today’s US payrolls report.

By Chris Becker European stocks led the rebound overnight as the ECB “revamped” its QE program – more debt shuffling – pushing all bourses up 2-3%.

by Angus Nicholson, IG for Chris Weston Market pricing for a rate hike at the Fed’s 16-17 September meeting is steadily being unwound; it now sits at 30%.

by Chris Becker Thank Dog for Chinese markets closing down for two days for the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2, because it looks like Australian stocks will get a reprieve to end the week possibly in the black.

By Chris Becker A rebound in US share prices overnight was helped by more dovish than hawkish comments coming from Federal Reserve members but more so in the relief that Chinese share markets and economic data will be closed for business for the rest of the week.

by Angus Nicholson for Chris Weston, IG The Chinese market intervention ahead of the WWII commemoration tomorrow has also boosted stocks in the region.

By Chris Becker China’s manufacturing PMI slump, combined with the IMFs rising concern about emerging market growth has seen global growth forecasts and risk appetites slashed, sending risk prices down all across the board.

Angus Nicholson for Chris Weston, Chief Market Strategist at IG Markets China’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data has hurt sentiment in Asia and driven further downward moves in indices across the region.

by Chris Becker The downgrades keep rolling in and this morning it’s Morgan Stanley, pushing its 12 month target for the ASX200 down to 5150 points from its previous 5650 level.

By Chris Becker Hesitation and uncertainty are the names of the game in risk markets right now, following the recent rout.

by Chris Weston It is bizarre that S&P 500 and commodity futures should open 1% lower based on the idea that the Chinese Stability Fund will no longer be active in the market.

By Chris Becker It was a muted end to a frenetic week on world markets on Friday night with more scuttlebutt of the Fed returning to its rate hike agenda due to rising inflation and indeed the solid personal consumption expenditure (PCE) print for July is giving the hawks ammunition to do so.

Angus Nicholson for Chris Weston, Chief Market Strategist at IG Markets The Asian session took news from US equities and commodity markets well today, although the pace of the gains look to have slowed later in the session.