Markets

Homebuilders rose 0.7% after data showed the highest new home sales in 14 years. But waning hopes of more fiscal stimulus weighed on sentiment. Overall, economic data was mixed.

The Australian sharemarket fell by 0.8% on Thursday as all sectors lost ground. Despite the losses, the market did bounce off its lows, with the ASX 200 down as much as 1.7% this morning.

The Australian sharemarket is down by ~1% at lunch, following a 2.4% surge on Wednesday (best day in two months). All sectors are lower after US equities tumbled overnight by as much as 3%.

Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated that there is a long way to go for the US economic rebound, which will likely require more support. Vice-Chairman Richard Clarida and regional Fed chiefs also cited the importance of fiscal policy in speeches. Shares of Amazon (-4.1%) and Apple (-4.2%) both dropped.

The Aussie market has rebounded in a big way on Wednesday with the ASX 200 snapping a four day losing streak with its best performance since July 21 this year. Today’s improvements were spread across all sectors as 90% of the top 200 stocks advanced. However the AUD fell to six week lows.

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The ASX 200 is surging 100 points or 1.8% in the first few hours of trade on Wednesday as local shares look to snap a four day losing streak. Gains have across the board with ~90% of the top 200 stocks advancing.

Shares in Amazon rose 5.7% after a broker upgrade. Major technology stocks also generally rose. Shares in home builders rose near 4-5% after strong data on existing home sales. Real estate and consumer discretionary were amongst the strongest sectors. The Dow Jones index rose by 140 points or 0.5%. The S&P500 index rose by 1.1% and the Nasdaq gained 185 points or 1.7%.

The ASX 200 continues to trade near 3-month lows with the index falling for a fourth consecutive session on Tuesday. Resources stocks fell hardest with the energy and materials sectors weighed by weaker commodity prices. Banks and travel stocks also closed lower while tech and healthcare were among the winners.

The ASX 200 following further declines on Wall Street overnight. Towards lunch, the ASX 200 is sliding for a fourth consecutive session, down 52 points or 0.9% to 5,770.

Concerns about fresh lockdowns in Europe raised fears about an elongated recovery for the global economy. Shares in industrials fell 3.4% while technology rose 0.8%. Stay-at-home stocks like Apple (up 3%), Microsoft (up 1.1%) and Amazon (up 0.2%) provided some support for the broader S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Congress remained deadlocked on a fresh stimulus package. Healthcare providers fell on uncertainty over the fate of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. After being down 942 points at session lows, the Dow Jones index fell by 510 points or 1.8%. The S&P500 index lost 1.2% and the Nasdaq fell by 15 points or 0.1%.

The Aussie market has closed near the lows of the session to start the new trading week as local shares follow Wall Street’s soft lead. Banks, miners and tech stocks were among the major drags while energy and healthcare outperformed.

The Aussie market is extending loss from last week with the ASX 200 down at lunch on Monday. The index is being weighed most by losses for the big banks and miners while healthcare and energy names are bucking the overall soft moves to lift.

Shares in Apple fell 3.2%, Alphabet (Google) lost 2.4%, Amazon lost 1.8% and Microsoft fell 1.2%. The Dow Jones index fell by 245 points or 0.9%. The S&P500 index lost 1.1% and the Nasdaq fell by 117 points or 1.1%. Over the week, the Dow fell 0.03%; S&P 500 fell 0.6%, and the Nasdaq lost 0.6%.

While the Aussie market fell by 0.3% on Friday and slipped for a second day, it did enough on Monday and Wednesday to push the market slightly higher this week. Mining and tech stocks were the best today.

The Australian sharemarket is down slightly on Friday, with equities only just hanging onto gains this week. Gains from miners, tech stocks, energy companies and Macquarie are helping offset most losses elsewhere.

Mega cap tech shares of Amazon.com (-2.3%), Apple (-1.6%) and Microsoft (-1%) all weighed on major indexes. Shares of cloud company Snowflake were down by 10.4% a day after its market debut.

The Australian sharemarket finished at intraday low, wiped out Wednesday’s gains and continued what has been a choppy couple of weeks for local equities. Better employment numbers did little to improve the mood.