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Market Opener – 07 Sep 2018
Local Markets Commentary
The Australian market opens Friday trade on continuing weak international equities sentiment, ahead of key data out of the US tonight and China over the weekend and Monday.
Overnight commodities trade again proved mixed.
Oil ultimately extended Wednesday’s decline.
US gold futures again settled modestly higher.
Iron ore (China port, 62% Fe) rallied, notably scoring a third consecutive gain.
LME copper extended Wednesday’s rally. Nickel settled barely changed. Aluminium fell.
The $A ultimately changed little after trading at US71.95c early yesterday evening.
Locally today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) releases July housing finance 11.30am AEST.
Pre-trade, the AiG publishes its August construction sector activity index.
Post-trade, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) reports reserve assets.
ABC, AMC and BSL are among companies trading ex-dividend. Please see p3 for additional stocks and details.
Regionally, China is scheduled to report August foreign reserves post-ASX trade.
August trade figures are expected tomorrow, and CPI and PPI Monday.
Overseas Market Commentary
Intra-session sentiment varied markedly across major European and US equities markets overnight, amid broad geopolitical uncertainty and indications of a possibly disappointing US employment report tonight.
Earlier, China had warned it would retaliate should the US implement, as previously threatened, new import taxes on a further $US200B worth of goods.
International concerns regarding a heightened offensive in Syria, involving several nations, appeared also to grow.
The US Treasury in the meantime announced sanctions against four people and five entities which had supported petroleum shipments to Syria and helped finance Syrian government activity.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice revealed it had charged a North Korean with hacking offences, including against Sony Pictures in 2014, and Bangladesh’s Central Bank, and with the broader WannaCry malware attack.
Oil prices fell further, impacting the energy sector.
The tech sector continued to suffer, from expected trade dispute supply and sales impacts, coupled with a potentially tougher social media regulatory environment.
Among a swag of US data releases, the ISM’s services sector activity index rose by 2.8 points to a robust 58.5
July factory orders fell 0.8%, however, after a 0.6% rise in June. Civilian aircraft and parts orders dropped 35.4% and defence ones by 34.4%.
A private sector employment report estimated 163,000 new jobs for August, against expectations of at least 20,000 more than this.
A job cuts report calculated layoffs rose by 13.7% year-on-year, following a 4.2% fall in July.
Germany’s July factory orders fell 0.9% for the month, following a 3.9% drop in June. Forecasters expected a 1.8% improvement.
An August construction PMI came in at 51.5, after touching the 50.0 cut-off point for contraction into expansion in July. Predictions had included a stronger move higher, to 52.8.
Tonight in the US, the monthly national employment report is anticipated.
In addition, three Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to speak publicly.
Quantum Corp is due to report earnings.
In overnight corporate news, despite revelations of plans to outlay $US1B for a new data facility in Singapore, Facebook was pushed yet 2.8% lower.
Twitter dropped another 5.8%.
The Australian market opens Friday trade on continuing weak international equities sentiment, ahead of key data out of the US tonight and China over the weekend and Monday.
Overnight commodities trade again proved mixed.
Oil ultimately extended Wednesday’s decline.
US gold futures again settled modestly higher.
Iron ore (China port, 62% Fe) rallied, notably scoring a third consecutive gain.
LME copper extended Wednesday’s rally. Nickel settled barely changed. Aluminium fell.
The $A ultimately changed little after trading at US71.95c early yesterday evening.
Locally today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) releases July housing finance 11.30am AEST.
Pre-trade, the AiG publishes its August construction sector activity index.
Post-trade, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) reports reserve assets.
ABC, AMC and BSL are among companies trading ex-dividend. Please see p3 for additional stocks and details.
Regionally, China is scheduled to report August foreign reserves post-ASX trade.
August trade figures are expected tomorrow, and CPI and PPI Monday.
Overseas Market Commentary
Intra-session sentiment varied markedly across major European and US equities markets overnight, amid broad geopolitical uncertainty and indications of a possibly disappointing US employment report tonight.
Earlier, China had warned it would retaliate should the US implement, as previously threatened, new import taxes on a further $US200B worth of goods.
International concerns regarding a heightened offensive in Syria, involving several nations, appeared also to grow.
The US Treasury in the meantime announced sanctions against four people and five entities which had supported petroleum shipments to Syria and helped finance Syrian government activity.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice revealed it had charged a North Korean with hacking offences, including against Sony Pictures in 2014, and Bangladesh’s Central Bank, and with the broader WannaCry malware attack.
Oil prices fell further, impacting the energy sector.
The tech sector continued to suffer, from expected trade dispute supply and sales impacts, coupled with a potentially tougher social media regulatory environment.
Among a swag of US data releases, the ISM’s services sector activity index rose by 2.8 points to a robust 58.5
July factory orders fell 0.8%, however, after a 0.6% rise in June. Civilian aircraft and parts orders dropped 35.4% and defence ones by 34.4%.
A private sector employment report estimated 163,000 new jobs for August, against expectations of at least 20,000 more than this.
A job cuts report calculated layoffs rose by 13.7% year-on-year, following a 4.2% fall in July.
Germany’s July factory orders fell 0.9% for the month, following a 3.9% drop in June. Forecasters expected a 1.8% improvement.
An August construction PMI came in at 51.5, after touching the 50.0 cut-off point for contraction into expansion in July. Predictions had included a stronger move higher, to 52.8.
Tonight in the US, the monthly national employment report is anticipated.
In addition, three Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to speak publicly.
Quantum Corp is due to report earnings.
In overnight corporate news, despite revelations of plans to outlay $US1B for a new data facility in Singapore, Facebook was pushed yet 2.8% lower.
Twitter dropped another 5.8%.