Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Half-time round-up: A dire week...

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

A dire week for the ASX looks set to end with a third straight loss as a sell-off in bonds dampened risk appetite and market heavyweight AMP plunged to a two-and-a-half-year low.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 17 points or 0.3% weaker at 5278 and on track to end the week more than 150 points or almost 3% lower. The market slumped this week after signs of rising inflation cruelled the outlook for more rate cuts, earnings misses raised questions about valuations, and traders continued to rotate into the US dollar out of riskier assets in the expectation that US rates are going to rise. Australia's key bond yield hit a five-month high this morning [NB: yield moves inversely to price].  

“We are seeing a shift, with global central banks unlikely to provide additional stimulus and that’s driving bond yields higher and is strengthening the US dollar,” Niv Dagan, director at Peak Asset Management, told Bloomberg. “We’ve had plenty of cautious outlook statements from companies and investors are adding a bit more defensive exposure in their portfolios and taking some profits off the table.”

The market again ignored positive leads from pre-market futures as declines in industrials -1%, health -0.7% and financials -0.6% outweighed gains in metals & mining +1%, materials +0.7% and energy +1%. AMP tumbled 8.9% after announcing write-downs.

In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.49% and Japan's Nikkei 0.57%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.06% in opening trade. Dow futures were recently ahead by 18 points or 0.1%.

Crude oil futures were flat, off one cent or 0.02% this morning at US$49.71 a barrel. Gold futures were $1.50 or 0.12% stronger at US$1,271 an ounce. The dollar was buying 75.98 US cents.


5200 here we come? The XJO is in a sour mood. Too many earnings disappointments, plus broader negative global factors. Hard to tell if we're Chicken Licken or cleverly pre-empting a global retrace. Time will tell. Trading: scratchy morning, but squeezed a wage out of GGG and NTU.