Daily Update 27 September, 2021

Global Markets Update

U.S. equity markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 up +0.1% and NASDAQ closing flat. Sales of new U.S. homes rose in August with purchases of new single-family homes increasing +1.5% to a 740,000 annualized pace, reaching a four-month high.

Long-dated U.S. treasury yields were higher, with the 2-Yr yield at 0.270% and the 10-Yr yield at 1.451%.

European markets. European equity markets closed lower on Friday, with the Stoxx Europe 600 down -0.9% and U.K. FTSE 100 down -0.4%. German DAX closed -0.7% lower, after data revealed German business confidence fell in September as problems in the supply of raw materials and intermediate goods continued to weigh on the manufacturing industry.

Asian markets. Asian equity markets closed mostly lower on Friday, as China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies rekindled worries of regulatory risk with China banning all crypto transactions and vowing to root out mining of digital assets. The Shanghai Composite was down -0.8% and Hang Seng down -1.3%, following a report that Chinese authorities have told local officials to prepare for a potential demise of heavily indebted property developer Evergrande. KOSPI was down -0.1% and Nikkei 225 gained +2.1%. Japan’s consumer prices stopped falling in August for the first time in 13 months with CPI (excluding fresh food) unchanged yoy, ending the country’s longest deflationary stretch since 2011, as rising costs for hotels, processed food and energy cushioned the impact of declining mobile phone rates.

WTI oil is trading at US$73.98 a barrel. Iron ore price is at US$105.77 per ton. Spot gold is trading at US$1,750 per oz.

ASX Market Update

ASX performance. The ASX 200 closed -0.37% lower on Friday, after IMF lowered its forecast for Australia’s economic growth in 2021 to 3.5% from 4.5%, reflecting the east coast lockdowns, however, boosted estimate for 2022 to 4.1% from 2.8%, expecting a recovery once restrictions are lifted.

Centuria Industrial REIT (CIP) was down -6.0%, after raising $300m through an institutional placement to acquire 8 freehold urban infill industrial assets for a total of $351.3m.