Australian Market Preview 30 July

 

The soothing words of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell lulled nervous markets back into a buying mode Wednesday. Once again, the Federal Reserve left benchmark interest rates unchanged at near zero, and Mr Powell reiterated his promise to back up the economy until it has worked its way clear of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tech stocks led the way, even as their CEOs were testifying in front of a House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. The tech-heavy NASDAQ was 1.35% higher, the benchmark S&P500 gained 1.24%, and the blue chip-laden Dow Jones Industrial rose 0.61%. 

Metals prices on the LME were generally higher. Nickel +1.55%, and Zinc +1.53% led the way. Copper saw a 0.75% gain in New York. Iron Ore prices were nicely higher on both the Chinese Dalian Exchange and in the Singapore-based $US price.

Looking at precious metals, Spot Gold rose 0.63% to US$1967.95/oz whilst Silver was roughly stead at US$24.23 

Looking at energy commodities, West Texas Crude improved 0.53% to US$41.30/barrel, Brent rose 1%, and Natural was 3.33% higher.

In currency moves, Australian Dollar improved 0.35% to US$0.7181 as the US Dollar Index declined 0.26%.

So with a generally risk on move in asset prices overnight, where did the ASX200 Share Price Index end up? Well, it had a reasonably robust session, closing at 6029 compared to an overnight session high of 6034 and a low of 5974.

That's a 23 point discount to yesterday's ASX 200 close of 6075, and predictive of a 0.8-1% rally at the open for the S&P ASX200. 

 

Reporting this morning: Atomos Limited (AMS), Cv Check Ltd (CV1), Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (FMG), Family Zone Cyber Safety Limited (FZO), Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia Limited (GMA), Ioof Holdings Limited (IFL), Macquarie Group Limited (MQG), and Orocobre Limited (ORE).

 

Today, we'll see data on Australian Building Approvals and Import Prices at 9.30am Sydney time. This evening, we'll see advanced data on US GDP, and weekly unemployment claims.