S&P500 and Nasdaq hit new record highs last night as investors await the start of corporate earnings season in the USA.
| World Overnight | |||
| SPI Overnight (Mar) | 6866.00 | + 25.00 | 0.37% |
| S&P ASX 200 | 6903.70 | – 25.30 | – 0.37% |
| S&P500 | 3288.13 | + 22.78 | 0.70% |
| Nasdaq Comp | 9273.93 | + 95.07 | 1.04% |
| DJIA | 28907.05 | + 83.28 | 0.29% |
| S&P500 VIX | 12.32 | – 0.24 | – 1.91% |
| US 10-year yield | 1.85 | + 0.02 | 1.26% |
| USD Index | 97.37 | + 0.02 | 0.02% |
| FTSE100 | 7617.60 | + 29.75 | 0.39% |
| DAX30 | 13451.52 | – 31.79 | – 0.24% |
Greg Peel is still on holidays. In the meantime, Jessica Amir from Bell Direct is providing a snapshot of insights and developments from overseas markets overnight.
By Jessica Amir, Bell Direct
The Aussie share market is eyeing a rebound with the futures market suggesting the ASX200 will lift 0.5% or 32 points at the open, erasing yesterday’s loss after the ASX200 shed -0.4% or -25 points to 6,903.7, which is our second best close on record.
Overnight, US equities started their trading week hitting new record highs, with tech stocks leading the charge and followed by the property sector, buoyed by news that the US will remove the tag off China as a currency manipulator, increasing optimism ahead of Wednesday’s key trade deal being signed.
Earnings season also kicks off this week in the US, with some of the biggest banks reporting tomorrow.
The benchmark S&P500 rose 0.7%, hitting a record high, while Nasdaq advanced 1% hitting a new all-time high with the blue-chip index Dow Jones adding 82 points/0.3%.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, European stocks closed mostly lower awaiting developments from Beijing and Washington with news that the Chinese government said Wednesday’s agreement is just the “first ground of a game”. The Stoxx 600 lost 0.2%, the French CAC closed flat, the Germany DAX slipped -0.2% and the FTSE bucked the trending, adding 0.4%
Gold slipped as US equities advance. The precious metal fell -0.7% to US$1,549 an ounce.
Oil price has taken another hit, falling -1.6% as tensions in the Mideast ease, with supply to US$58.07 a barrel.
Iron ore -0.01% lower at US$93.56 a tonne.
Australian dollar hovers around a five-day high 69.03 US.
What to watch today?
Yesterday only two sectors closed in positive territory – the tech and property sector. They are likely to get another boost today as those two sectors rose the most on Wall Street overnight.
| Spot Metals,Minerals & Energy Futures | |||
| Gold (oz) | 1548.30 | – 13.80 | – 0.88% |
| Silver (oz) | 17.94 | – 0.13 | – 0.72% |
| Copper (lb) | 2.80 | + 0.01 | 0.26% |
| Aluminium (lb) | 0.80 | – 0.00 | – 0.52% |
| Lead (lb) | 0.86 | – 0.01 | – 1.28% |
| Nickel (lb) | 6.36 | + 0.03 | 0.39% |
| Zinc (lb) | 1.08 | – 0.00 | – 0.13% |
| West Texas Crude | 58.08 | – 1.04 | – 1.76% |
| Brent Crude | 64.20 | – 0.86 | – 1.32% |
| Iron Ore (t) futures | 93.60 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| BROKER RECOMMENDATION CHANGES PAST THREE TRADING DAYS | |||
| AGL | AGL ENERGY | Downgrade to Underperform from Neutral | Credit Suisse |
| COL | COLES GROUP | Downgrade to Underweight from Equal-weight | Morgan Stanley |
| DCG | DECMIL GROUP | Downgrade to Neutral from Buy | Citi |
| EVN | EVOLUTION MINING | Upgrade to Outperform from Underperform | Credit Suisse |
| Downgrade to Neutral from Outperform | Macquarie | ||
| ORG | ORIGIN ENERGY | Downgrade to Neutral from Outperform | Credit Suisse |
| WOW | WOOLWORTHS | Upgrade to Equal-weight from Underweight | Morgan Stanley |
