Global Markets Update
- U.S. equity markets closed higher overnight, with both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 up +0.8% and NASDAQ closing +0.9% higher. Bitcoin soared after some prominent voices discussed prospects for the digital currency at the “B Word” conference, with Elon Musk saying SpaceX owns the digital token and Ark Investment Management’s Cathie Wood urging firms to consider the “explosive” Bitcoin growth.
- Long-dated U.S. treasury yields were higher, with the 2-Yr yield at 0.206% and the 10-Yr yield at 1.293%.
- European markets. European equity markets closed higher overnight, rising the most since early May, amid a volley of better-than-expected results. The Stoxx Europe 600 was up +1.6%, German DAX up +1.4% and U.K. FTSE 100 closed +1.7% higher. Inflation took a toll on the U.K. public finances in June, driving interest payments on government debt to unprecedented levels with the Treasury paying 8.7bn pounds in interest in the month, the most for any month since records began in 1997.
- Asian markets. Asian equity markets closed mixed overnight, with the Hang Seng down -0.1%, as Beijing’s tight regulation continued to weigh on Tech stocks. The Shanghai Composite was up +0.7% and KOSPI closed -0.5% lower. Nikkei 225 gained +0.6%, after data revealed Japan’s exports jumped +48.6% yoy in June as shipments of cars and autoparts continued to surge with exports to the U.S., Europe and China all improving, and imports gained +32.7% yoy, leaving a trade balance of 383.2bn yen in the black.
- WTI oil is trading at US$70.23 a barrel. Iron ore price is at US$208.85 per ton. Spot gold is trading at US$1,804 per oz.
ASX Market Update
- ASX performance. The ASX 200 closed +0.78% higher yesterday. Australia’s retail sales in June fell -1.8% month-on-month due to the impact of coronavirus restrictions across multiple states.
- Altium Ltd (ALU) was down -5.0%, after Autodesk said it terminated discussions to acquire ALU. CIMIC Group Ltd (CIM) was up +4.5%, after declaring interim dividend per share of A$0.42 vs A$0 y/y and maintaining FY21 net income forecast of A$400-430m.
- Today’s trading. In Australia, business confidence data is to be published. In the U.S., jobless claims data is anticipated.